Cipla Q1 Results: Stock falls after US sales miss expectations, margins narrow sharply to 16%

Shares of Cipla Ltd., the Mumbai-based drug manufacturer fell over 2% on Thursday, July 23, in response to its June quarter results, which missed analyst expectations across parameters, including US sales.

The company's net profit for the quarter declined by 39% on a year-on-year basis to ₹789 crore, lower than the CNBC-TV18 poll of ₹923 crore. Profitability was lower despite tax expenses declining to ₹295 crore from ₹478 crore.

Revenue for the quarter stood at ₹7,119 crore, higher by 2% from the same quarter last year, but the street was working with an estimate of ₹7,342 crore.

Cipla's investor presentation disclosed that its sales in the US market for the June quarter stood at $162 million, lower than the estimates of $173 million. 22% of the company's topline for the quarter came from North America.

Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) declined by 33% from the year-ago quarter to ₹1,192 crore. The number was also lower than the CNBC-TV18 poll of ₹1,376 crore. Cipla's EBITDA in the same quarter last year stood at ₹1,778.1 crore.

EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 16.7%, a contraction of nearly nine percentage points from the year-ago quarter's figure of 25.6% and lower than the CNBC-TV18 poll of 18.7%.

The company's One India business grew by 12% from last year to ₹3,452 crore, which is the highest ever quarterly revenue for the vertical. The One India business contributed to 48% of the overall topline.

One Africa revenue remained flat from last year, gaining only 1% to $103 million. Emerging markets and Europe grew by 5% from last year to $106 million.

Cipla highlighted in its presentation that gVentolin in the US market during the quarter, with initial shipments executed and supply ramp-up planned over the coming quarters.

Shares of Cipla are now trading 1.8% lower after the results announcement at ₹1,390. The stock is down 8% so far this year.