Strides Pharma Science Ltd on Thursday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 43.74 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2021, on the back of higher sales.
The company had posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 206.57 crore in the same quarter a year ago, Strides Pharma Science said in a regulatory filing.
Revenue from operations in the fourth quarter stood at Rs 908.49 crore. It was at Rs 618.64 crore in the year-ago period.
For the fiscal ended March 31, 2021, the company said its consolidated net profit was at Rs 257.73 crore as compared to Rs 30.6 crore in the previous year.
Consolidated revenue from operations in FY21 stood at Rs 3,315.87 crore as against Rs 2,751.97 crore in FY20, it added.
The board of directors has proposed a final dividend of Rs 2.50 per share, which is subject to approval by the shareholders' in the upcoming Annual General Meeting, the company said.
Strides Pharma Science Managing Director and CEO R Ananthanarayanan said, "Amidst a tough operating environment, we are pleased to have delivered a healthy performance across all businesses in FY21." The company's regulated markets franchise which now contributes 80 per cent of revenues has seen significant ramp up in FY21 growing 21 per cent year-on-year in line with its outlook, he said adding the emerging markets business witnessed a strong bounce back in FY21
During the fiscal, there was a significant cost increase of Rs 129.3 crore from logistics and failure to supply largely owing to COVID-19 related disruptions, Ananthanarayanan said.
On the outlook, he said, "While in the near term we are witnessing operational challenges owing to a rampant second wave of COVID-19 in India, we believe we have all the strategic pivots in place to continue on our growth momentum and deliver strong financial outcomes for our stakeholders over the next 3 years." In an investor presentation, the company said it is also creating a basket of products and will launch them shortly in the India market to aid COVID-19 treatment and supportive care, with the launch of Liposomal Amphotericin B announced on Thursday being the first one.
"Validation batches of Sputnik commenced in late May from our newly commissioned facility, expect large-scale facility to be on track in July in spite of COVID challenges and we expect to be in the market with product as previously announced by October," it said.
In March, the company's biopharmaceutical division, Stelis Biopharma, had signed its first vaccine supply contract partnering with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund) to supply 200 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine.
Discussions are ongoing to partner with other global vaccine developers for manufacturing services, it added.
On the inspection of its Puducherry plant by the USFDA, the company said, "While virtual inspections have been completed by other regulatory bodies, our warning letter position at Pondicherry continues to remain unresolved as we await resumption of travel by USFDA for reinspection, plant continues to supply existing products for the US market."
