Cipla gets bitter pill from CLSA

Cipla actually posted a better set of numbers vis-à-vis Q4FY16. It remains in the red but its consolidated net loss of Q4FY17 came down to Rs.62 crore v/s Rs.93 crore (YoY). Its revenue was up from Rs.3374 crore to Rs.3605 crore.  And its EBITDA showed an improvement  from Rs.176 crore to Rs.506 crore. EBITDA margins expanded to 14.1% from 5.3%.

The results for the quarter include one-off charges related to the impairment of a part of intangibles from its US acquisition at Rs214 crore and a provision of Rs.56 crore as loss on certain assets of its subsidiary Cipla BioTec.

Yet the stock is amongst the top five losers on the BSE. The reason – foreign brokerage house, CLSA downgraded the stock post the numbers as it stated that margin growth was muted and below their expectation. It has come in 4% below its estimates and that is the sole reason why the stock price is in the red despite a good show.

The company has ended FY17 with a net profit at Rs.1006 crore v/s Rs.1360 crore and during the fiscal, it has filed 32 products with the US FDA and launched 18 new products. In the second half of current fiscal, FY18, the company plans to launch a limited competition product and file over 20 products. The company is also upbeat about its US business for FY18.