(Reuters) -Cipla, India’s third-largest drugmaker by sales, reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Friday, driven by higher domestic demand for its generic respiratory drugs.
The company’s consolidated net profit rose 10% to 12.98 billion rupees ($150 million) in the April-June quarter, beating analysts’ average estimate of 12.11 billion rupees, per data compiled by LSEG.
Total revenue increased 4% to 69.57 billion rupees, slightly below expectations of 70.64 billion rupees.
Cipla’s shares jumped 3.4% after the results and were set for their best day in nearly three months. The stock was the top gainer on the blue-chip Nifty 50 index .
Revenue from India, Cipla’s biggest market by sales, climbed 6% to 30.70 billion rupees, while North America revenue fell 7% to 19.33 billion rupees.
The two regions account for three-fourths of the company’s total sales.
Cipla said growth in India was led by demand for drugs in therapy areas such as respiratory, urology and anti-infectives.
However, delayed approvals for new drug applications and pricing pressure have weighed on the drugmaker’s growth in the U.S.
Drug prices in the U.S. are expected to drop as shortages ease and competition from new drugmakers intensifies, Macquarie analysts said in a pre-earnings note.
Earlier this week, rival Dr Reddy’s missed quarterly profit estimates and flagged increased price erosion in certain key products, including lenalidomide in North America.
($1 = 86.5750 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
