Lupin Ltd. reported a surprise loss during the quarter ended September as exceptional items worth Rs 546 crore weighed on the drugmaker's bottom line.
Net loss of India's third-largest pharmaceutical company stood at Rs 127 crore compared with a profit of Rs 266 crore a year ago, according to an exchange filing. Analysts tracked by Bloomberg had estimated a profit of Rs 295 crore.
That was because of a one-time loss of Rs 546 core due to adjustments made during the quarter, including provisions worth Rs 379 crore toward a Texas lawsuit and a loss of Rs 167 crore toward selling stake in a Japanese joint venture, Lupin said.
The company's revenue, however, rose 10 percent year-on-year to Rs 4,360 crore—against the Rs 4,396-crore estimated. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 33 percent to Rs 730 crore, while margin expanded to 16.7 percent from 13.9 percent.
This comes at a time India's pharmaceutical market grew at its fastest pace in more than a year in the quarter ended September as volumes and prices rose despite a fall in new launches.
Lupin's stock rose as much as 4.3 percent during the day to hit a three-month high of Rs 787.60 apiece. That compares with a 2.3 percent gain in the Nifty Pharma Index.
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