Sun Pharmaceutical Industries shares came under pressure in early trade today, slipping after the company on Wednesday reported a 19% year-on-year decline in consolidated net profit for the March quarter. At 10:17 AM, the stock was down nearly 3% to Rs 1,669.50 on the National Stock Exchange. It touched its intraday low at Rs 1,636.60, down 5% from the previous close.
Even an 8% increase in its revenue could not lift up the profit for the quarter under review. The earnings of the fourth largest global generics pharma company took a hit due to increased input and staff costs, and other expenses. Beyond these expenses, what actually dragged down the profit for the period were one-time loss and higher tax expenses.
It booked Rs 1,093.71 crore of tax expense in the March quarter, which included a Rs 377.48 crore write-off of deferred tax assets stemming from the restructuring of its US operations. In addition to this, the company also booked a one-time a loss of Rs 361.68 during the quarter under review. Excluding the exceptional item and the exceptional tax, Sun Pharma’s consolidated net profit has actually risen nearly 5% on year.
Its India formulation sales recorded a near 14% on-year growth in the fourth quarter of FY25, while formulation sales in the US slipped 2.5% on year. Global specialty sales were up 8.6%, and accounted for nearly 20% of Q4 sales.
“The near-term pipeline in global specialty is promising, with products such as Leqselvi and Unloxcyt—the latter through our recently announced Checkpoint acquisition—offering significant improvements in patient care,” Dilip Shanghvi, chairman and managing director of Sun Pharma, said. “We look forward to Specialty becoming an increasingly important part of our business”.
Apart from the earnings, a cautious guidance for FY26 could also weigh on the investors sentiments. The company expects its revenue to grow in mid-to-high single digit in FY26, lower than the current estimate of 10%. Nomura said that Sun Pharma’s lower guidance suggests an increase in overhead spends and investments, which could adversely affect EBITDA margin in the near term. The brokerage has a ‘neutral’ rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,970.
