Dr Reddy's Q4 net profit tumbles 76%

Consolidated net profit of pharmaceutical major Dr. Reddy's Laboratories tanked 76% year-on-year to ₹88 crore in the fourth quarter, dragged down by impairment of non-current assets worth ₹751.5 crore in the quarter.

Revenue of the pharma company rose 15% year-on-year to ₹5,437 crore in the January-March period compared with ₹4,728 crore in the same quarter last year, according to its exchange filing. On a quarterly basis, Dr. Reddy's revenue rose 2% in the quarter ended March 2022.

The company marked down the value of tepilamide fumarate extended release tablets by ₹433 crore on account of a decrease in market potential.

Dr. Reddy's announced that its board has recommended a final dividend of ₹30 per share for the financial year 2021-22.

G.V. Prasad, co-chairman and managing director at Dr. Reddy's, said the company has delivered healthy growth in revenue, though profits were impacted by impairment charges.

"In spite of multiple external challenges, our core businesses performed well driven by an increase in market share, some strong launches, and productivity improvement," says Prasad.

In the financial year 2021-22, profit after tax rose 37% year-on-year to ₹2,357 crore.

Revenue from the North America market, which contributes 35% of the total sales, grew 6% year-on-year. The growth was driven by 17 new product launches in FY22 and scale up of existing products, which was partially offset by price erosion.

Revenue from Europe rose 8% year-on-year primarily on account of volume traction in base business and new product launches, partially offset by price erosion. The region contributes 8% to the total sales.

Revenue from India rose 26% year-on-year on account of sales volume and price of the company’s existing products, along with additional revenues from the launch of new products. The growth was also aided by Covid-19 product sales. The pharma major launched 20 new brands in India, including Sputnik-V vaccine, during the last fiscal.