Pharma cos may report strong revenue growth for Q1 FY17

Mumbai : The pharma sector may report strong revenue growth for the first quarter of the current fiscal, a foreign brokerage report said.

"The key during the results season though would be updates on facility resolution across companies," US brokerage firm Jefferies said in its 'Pharmaceuticals: 1Q17 Preview' report.

"We expect a mixed set of results for the sector. Overall, we expect revenue growth of 17 per cent led by exclusivity launches and margins to improve 50 bps year on year. Similar to the past few quarters, the key focus will remain on facility status," the report said.

Approvals for Indian pharmaceutical companies, Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA), have also gone down sharply.

ANDA approval pace by FDA has moderated from its December 15 highs with 52 monthly approvals in Q1 FY17 as compared to 63 in Q3 FY 16. ANDA approvals (312) have fallen behind filings (408) in CY16, it said.

The share of Indian companies in approvals has dropped sharply with only 40 final approvals in Q1 FY17, the lowest in past five quarters.

Aurobindo Pharma continues to remain the outlier receiving 40 per cent of the total Indian approvals (16). Sun and Lupin both got six approvals each in the quarter.

"Pricing and product pipeline will be the other focus areas. In addition to facility, we will watch for commentary on pricing erosion in the US markets, launches of key drugs and R&D pipeline progress for various players. We expect Sun Pharma and Lupin to report strong results, led by exclusivity benefits, while DRRD and Cipla should report muted results," it said.