Sun Pharma beats Street—Q2 net profit up 2.6%, US sales down 4%
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries beat Street forecasts on Wednesday with consolidated net profit for the September quarter ₹3,117.95 crore, up 2.6% ₹3,040.16 crore was reported in the previous year period. India’s largest drugmaker by sales said its revenue from operations rose 8.6% year-on-year. ₹14,405.2 crore.
The company has witnessed steady revenue growth in most markets. Sun Pharmaceutical said it saw a decline in U.S. generic sales during the reporting quarter, but that was offset by growth in the company’s innovation portfolio.
A. Bloomberg Survey predicted drugmaker’s revenue would rise ₹14,244 crore with profit after tax ₹2,881 crore for the quarter.
The pharmaceutical company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for this quarter were as follows: ₹4,527 crore, up 14.9%, while the margin improved to 31.3% from 29.6% a year ago..
“U.S. sales of innovative drugs outpaced generics for the first time in the quarter,” Kirti Ganorkar, chief executive of Sun Pharma, said in a company statement.
“Growth in innovative medicines has been led by Illumya, Cequa and Odomzo,” North America Chief Executive Officer Richard Ascroft told investors on the post-earnings call.
Sun Pharma’s U.S. generic sales totaled $496 million in the quarter, a decline of 4.1%. U.S. sales account for approximately 30.1% of total consolidated sales, the company said.
Innovative medicine sales reached $333 million in the second quarter, up 16.4% year over year and accounting for 20.2% of total consolidated sales.
Given its innovative drug portfolio, Sun Pharma is likely to be affected by US drug import tariffs. However, the company said it was still waiting for clarity. “We do not have any additional tariffs to pay today. The initial announcement has been paused and we are still waiting for the outcome of the section 232 investigation,” Ascroft said, referring to the investigation launched by the US government into drug imports in early April.
Sun Pharmaceutical is “open to considering” expanding its U.S. manufacturing footprint, Ashcroft said.
india sales
The company’s domestic sales increased by 11% annually ₹4,734.8 crore. India formulation sales accounted for 32.9% of total consolidated sales.
Sun Pharmaceutical maintained its top position in terms of sales and its domestic market share increased marginally from 8% to 8.3%, the company said. It launched nine new products during the quarter and 15 new products since the beginning of the year.
Sun Pharma is set to be among the first Indian companies to launch weight loss drug semaglutide in India as it will go off-patent in March. “I can tell you that the GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide) market overall is very exciting and will continue to grow,” said Dilip Shanghvi, president. “We want to join the market when the first opportunities arise.”
Shanghvi declined to commit to whether the company would launch both injectable and oral versions of the drug, but said “we will remain competitive. If others launch it, we will launch it with them.”
Innovative portfolio
This quarter, Sun Pharma launched Leqselvi in the US for the treatment of severe alopecia Areata. The drug has received encouraging responses from prescribers and patients.
The innovative R&D pipeline has six new startups in the clinical stage. These include the cancer drug Unloxcyt, which is approved in the USA.
Sun Pharma had announced in the fourth quarter of FY25 that it would invest $100 million in FY26 to launch and commercialize its new specialty product line in the US.
Sun Pharma is also working on its own GLP-1 drug candidate, GL0034. Phase 1 trials of the drug indicated for type 2 diabetes have been completed, and phase 2 clinical trials are expected to begin in the second half of this year.
“We are very excited about the initial data we have obtained from patients for both MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis or fatty liver disease) and diabetes. And we will be presenting these data shortly,” said Shanghvi.
