Laurus Labs’ profit after tax for the quarter ended June 30 was down by nine per cent to Rs 15.1 crore against Rs 16.6 crore for the first quarter of the last fiscal, the drug maker said here on Friday.

Total net revenues during the quarter was up by two per cent at Rs 550 crore. It was Rs 539 crore during the April-June quarter in FY19, the company said in a press release.

V. V. Ravi Kumar, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, said the EBITDA margins were impacted mainly because of lower revenue and higher expenditure related to a ramp-up in production activities and higher insurance cost.

Satyanarayana Chava, CEO, said the API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) generics business witnessed a slowdown mainly because of lower ARV (antiretroviral) and Hepatitis C API sales.

“As there is a shift in the treatment regime and new tender in South Africa, we are witnessing a deferment in off-take from key customers. We have visibility to recoup growth from the second quarter onwards and, hence, we remain confident of maintaining the growth trajectory in the Generic API business for FY20,” Satyanarayana said.

During the quarter under discussion, the company executed a formulation supply order worth about Rs 80 crore to Low and Middle Income Group Countries (LMIC).

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