Reinvent and innovate will be the key mantra for the Indian pharma industry in the New Year as the 'pharmacy of the world' looks to move from volume to value leadership, amid emerging challenges of inflation and pricing pressures in the global markets. While R&D investment, market competitiveness, regulatory scrutiny, and domestic price regulations are expected to shape the growth of generics and injectable products, concerns such as price control and customs duties on medical equipment will continue to bother the healthcare industry in 2023. The industry believes that in view of India's G20 Presidency, digital health innovation, achieving universal health coverage, improving healthcare infrastructure and delivery will continue to be the key driving factors in 2023.
While Lupin is working on a Remdesivir powder for inhalation, Glenmark has tied up with a Canadian Biotech firm for nitric oxide nasal spray that reduces Sars-CoV-2 viral load and thus transmission.
The headline for corporate profit growth has been very encouraging in the July-September quarter (Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24), with the combined net profit of listed companies up by 38 per cent year-on-year. However, the earnings distribution has been very lopsided, with most of the growth coming from public-sector oil-marketing companies (OMCs), banks, non-bank lenders, automobile (auto) companies, and cement producers. By comparison, companies from information technology services, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, and consumer durables were disappointed, experiencing a sharp slowdown in net sales growth and a relatively muted increase in reported net profit.
Over half, or 269 NSE 500 stocks, have given over 10-fold (10x) returns in the last two decades, finds a recent report by Goldman Sachs that analysed 10 major markets across emerging and developed markets (EM/DM) that covered 6,700 stocks. The report examined '10-baggers' - stocks that have generated at least 10x total returns within a rolling 5-year period over the past two decades. Some of the prominent ones that comprise these 269 stocks in the Indian context stocks that delivered over 10x total returns over a 5-year rolling period since 2000 as per Goldman Sachs includes Westlife Foodworld, Bharti Airtel, Adani Total Gas, Patanjali Foods, Larsen & Toubro, BEML, Blue Star, Shree Cement, Lupin, Godrej Industries, Astral, Adani Enterprises, Hindustan Petroleum and Deepak Fertilisers.
Rishad Premji, chairman of IT services major Wipro, saw his compensation for FY23 decline by almost 50 per cent year-on-year, due to a fall in the firm's profit. According to the Form 20-F, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission by Wipro, Premji's compensation for FY23 was $951,353, down 50 per cent from $1,819,022 in FY22. "Rishad A Premji is entitled to a commission at the rate of 0.35 per cent on incremental consolidated net profits of Wipro Limited over the previous fiscal year. However, in light of the fact that the incremental consolidated net profits for fiscal year 2023 was negative, the Company determined that no commission was payable for fiscal year 2023 to Mr Rishad A. Premji," said the company in the filing.
Stellar rally in ITC shares along with strength in the Asian equities capped the downside.
The government should take measures to promote innovation and R&D while simplifying regulations for the sector in the upcoming Union Budget, as per pharmaceutical industry bodies. Outlining the wish list for the sector in the upcoming Union Budget, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) secretary general Sudarshan Jain said the domestic pharma industry is currently around $50 billion in size and aspires to grow to around $130 billion by 2030 and $450 billion by 2047. "To achieve this vision, the Union Budget 2023-2024 should help fuel innovation and R&D, which will set the pace for propelling the pharmaceutical industry forward," he told PTI.
This recognition is a testimony of India's strong belief in promoting entrepreneurship
Forty Indians entered the billionaires' club in the pandemic-stricken 2020 to take the number of those in the coveted list to 177 people, a report said on Tuesday. Mukesh Ambani continued to be the wealthiest Indian with a networth of $83 billion. The head of Reliance Industries witnessed a 24 per cent jump in fortunes and climbed up one spot to be the eighth richest globally, as per the Hurun Global Rich List. Gautam Adani from Gujarat, who has had a spectacular rise in fortunes in the last few years, saw his wealth almost doubling to $32 billion in 2020 and climbed 20 places to be the 48th richest person globally and the second wealthiest Indian.
India's top listed companies reported their best-ever quarterly net profit of Rs 2.39 trillion in the September quarter of FY22, up 46.4 per cent year-on-year. The earnings were driven by a big surge in the profitability of banks, non-banking financial companies & insurance (BFSI), oil & gas, and metal & mining firms. The combined net profit of these three cyclical sectors were up 87 per cent YoY to a record high of Rs 1.53 trillion, up from Rs 82,000 crore a year ago and Rs 1.08 trillion in Q1FY22.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy's top list in terms of those who face most class-action litigation
Indian government has extended price caps to 39 more medicines ranging from commonly used diabetes drugs to antibiotics.
India offices of MNCs like DHL, Google and Marriott ranked among the top workplaces in Asia.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Indian drug firms get a shot in the arm in the $12 bn Australian drug market as the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Australia agrees to accelerate the drug approval process in that country for Indian players who already have an approved plant and product from one of the stringent regulatory authorities like US, EU or Canada. From current sales of $340 mn, the Indian firms can see a significant upside in sales; felt Dinesh Dua, former chairman of the Pharmaceutical Exports Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), and the MD of Nectar Lifesciences. He highlighted that only 12 percent of the Australian drug market is generic, as against 80-90 per cent in the US or EU. Of this $1.5 bn generic drug market in India, Indian companies have a small share.
'The correction could take two to three months and traders need to be careful.' 'For investors, this could be a good time to nibble in.'
While companies continue to face regulatory pressure leading to higher costs, they see an uptick from the launch of differentiated and high-margin products
At least two key drugs in the gliptin category have already gone off patent and cheaper variants are crowding the market. Also, several patent expiries are round the corner for the newest category of drugs - SGLT-2 inhibitors or gliflozins.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
The new drugs to come under price control include commonly-used antibiotics and painkillers
Investment announcement for $100 bn over 5 years likely.
With sales of over Rs 12,240 crore in nine months of the current financial year, it is ahead of Rs 11,580 crore recorded by Lupin but behind Sun Pharma, which reported Rs 19,350 crore sales.
Some of the popular brands that would be impacted include Phensedyl (Abbott), Tixylix (Abbott), Gluconorm PG (Lupin), Ascoril D (Glenmark), Solvin Cold (Ipca), D Cold Total (Paras Pharma).
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your stockmarket queries.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
A key lesson for the pharmaceutical sector in this case is to not downplay the significant impact that regulatory non-compliance can have on operations.
Stock markets are expected to remain under pressure this week due to the overhang of US presidential polls and uncertainty over global growth due to resurging cases of coronavirus, according to analysts.
Titan accounted for 59.6 per cent of his disclosed portfolio at Rs 8,355 crore. This is more than 10 times the next biggest holding, Federal Bank, at Rs 619 crore.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your stockmarket queries.
Jhunjhunwala increases stake in DHFL, luggage maker VIP Industries and pharma major Lupin but is cautious on auto holding. At the end of the March quarter, Jhunjhunwala held positions in 29 firms.
RBI policy, macro data, company earnings to decide market course this week: Experts
Among the lot, Rallis India, Escorts, Jubilant Life Sciences, and Crisil added half of the total gains made in the ace stock-picker's portfolio.
Almost 2,000 companies whose private provident and pension funds have invested in non-convertible debentures of IL&FS group firms are staring at the prospect of booking losses to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore or more if the interest income is added.
Top 5 losers include Lupin, Cipla, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Lab and GAIL down 1.6%-11%.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Aseem Chhabra watched some great films and some huge disappointments in 2021.