Sun Pharma reports better-than-expected rise in Q3 due to higher sales of specialty drugs

Sun Pharma Industries, India's largest drugmaker by revenue, reported a better-than-expected 5.2 per cent rise in third-quarter profit on Tuesday, driven by higher sales of its specialty drugs.

The company, known for its consumer healthcare products such as Revital vitamins and pain relief medicine Volini, said it earned a consolidated net profit of 21.66 billion rupees ($265.23 million) in three months ended Dec. 31, up from 20.59 billion rupees last year.

Analysts, on average, had expected the company to report a profit of 21.26 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Total revenue from operations climbed nearly 14 per cent to 112.41 billion rupees. Input costs rose 8.5 per cent. Drug sales in India rose 7.1 per cent to 33.92 billion rupees, whereas sales in the United States climbed 16.6 per cent to 34.66 billion rupees, with each of the two regions accounting for 31 per cent of the company's total consolidated sales.

The company, founded in 1983, makes over-the-counter medications, anti-retrovirals and active pharmaceutical ingredients for chronic and acute treatments.

Despite the popularity of its generics business, the intense price competition prompted the drugmaker to enter the high-margin specialty segment about seven years ago.