Ajanta Pharma Q4 profit down 17 percent at Rs 94 crore

New Delhi: Ajanta Pharma on Wednesday reported 17.13 percent decline in profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 94.49 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2018, impacted by a decline in institutional business in Africa.

The company had posted PAT of Rs 114.02 crore in January-March 2016-17, Ajanta Pharma said in a BSE filing.

Revenue from operations stood at Rs 530.31 crore in the quarter under review. It was at Rs 476.81 crore in the year-ago period.

Ajanta Pharma said revenue from operations were not comparable over the previous year due to the implementation of GST from July 1 last year as sales have been recorded as net of GST whereas earlier sales were recorded gross of excise duty which formed part of expenses.

Ajanta Pharma Managing Director Yogesh Agrawal said:"During the quarter, we have performed well in Africa branded generic space. Whereas branded generic business in India and Asia performed below our expectations."

There was a lot of movement in the Africa institution business that saw de-growth of 22 percent which has impacted the overall quarter performance, he added.

"Considering the challenging pricing environment in the US, we have performed much better relative to our competitors who have seen much sharper price erosion," Agrawal said.

For 2017-18, the company said, its PAT was at Rs 468.64 crore as compared to Rs 506.83 crore in 2016-17.

Revenue from operations was at Rs 2,130.86 crore as against Rs 2,001.64 crore in 2016-17, a growth of 6.46 percent.

"Going forward, we will continue to focus on the branded generic business in India and emerging markets," Agrawal said.

The company said in India, its sales rose 6 percent at Rs 148 crore in the fourth quarter, whereas for the full year the same were at Rs 629 crore at a growth of 2 percent.

Export sales in March quarter were at Rs 348 crore, up 10 percent. For the full year, exports were at 1,434 crore, posting a growth of 9 percent.