In its latest report, ICRA has argued that Indian pharma could clock in 9-11% of growth in FY22, driven by a push from domestic and emerging markets in the next few quarters.
Growth of Indian pharma industry in 2021-22 (FY22) is estimated at 9-11 per cent, driven by a push from domestic and emerging markets in the next few quarters, credit rating agency ICRA said on Tuesday.
The revenue growth for ICRA’s sample of 21 Indian pharmaceutical companies was moderate at 6.4 per cent in Q2 FY22, down from 16 per cent in Q1 FY22. Normalisation of the base and pricing pressures in the US market were the major reasons for slowing growth momentum in Q2 FY22, even as growth under domestic and emerging markets remained healthy, the credit rating agency said in a statement.
The sample set reported a 15.3 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in domestic revenues, against a ~14.6 per cent Y-o-Y growth for the Indian pharmaceutical markets (IPM). A combination of steady normalization in hospital footfalls and field force operations (given the relatively lower restrictions on account of Covid-19), continued traction in acute therapies and better pricing supported healthy revenue growth across companies.
Going forward, sustenance of trend in doctor visits and elective surgeries given the news around the Omicron variant, and performance of new launches in addition to revenue growth momentum in the acute segment will remain key monitorables, ICRA said.
As for the US market, the revenue growth for the sample set remained muted at 1.9 per cent during the second quarter owing to high single digit to low teens price erosion and past inventory liquidation given the Covid-related uncertainties. Companies are focusing on specialty products, injectables, complex generics including first-to-file opportunities to improve margins for the US business, which has been impacted by the pricing pressure.
“Going forward, improved product mix is expected to contribute to price stabilisation. Overall, ICRA expects mid to high single digit price erosion in FY2022,” the agency said in the statement.
“The emerging markets were the star performer clocking a robust 30.6 per cent Y-o-Y growth in Q2 FY22. Growth for the sample set was primarily led by new launches, low base, strong demand and INR depreciation,” it added.
Also Read: Over Rs 50,000 crore of cricket rights up for grabs in 2022
The companies in the sample set witnessed healthy Y-o-Y revenue growth of 12.3 per cent from the Europe business. This was mainly driven by improving demand for non-Covid products in addition to new product introductions, INR depreciation and expanding market coverage. This was despite heightened competitive intensity in some geographies.
The operating profit margins (OPM) for the sample set stood at 23.7 per cent in Q2 FY22 and 24.0 per cent in H1 FY22. Margins for the sample set showed marginal improvement in H1 FY2022 vis a vis H1 FY2021 due to turnaround of operations of one player. Excluding the same, the margins remained flat on a Y-o-Y basis. With rising raw material prices and logistic costs, margins contracted by 50 bps to 23.7 per cent in Q2 FY22. Full impact of input price hikes are expected to be seen in H2 FY2022 due to the lag effect.
“In FY22, the sample set is estimated to have witnessed growth of 13-15 per cent in the domestic market, 14-16 per cent in the emerging markets and 9-11 per cent in the European business even as growth under the US business is expected to remain muted given the pricing pressure. The growth for the US and European markets also remains sensitive to depreciation of the INR against the USD/GBP/EUR,” Mythri Macherla, Assistant Vice President & Sector Head, ICRA, said.
ICRA said that it expects the R&D expenses to stabilise at current levels and remain in the range of 6.5-7.5 per cent of revenues for its sample set as companies continue to focus on complex generics, first to file opportunities, specialty products which entails higher R&D expenses. Stable investments in R&D to develop such products will support growth and margin improvement over the medium term.
“Going forward, ICRA expects the Covid-19 related improvement in margins to taper down. This combined with headwinds such as pricing pressures and rising raw material costs are expected to result in margins of the sample set contracting to 22.5% in FY2022 and further to pre-Covid levels of 21-22% in FY2023, though the same will continue to remain healthy,” said Deepak Jotwani, Assistant Vice President & Sector Head, ICRA.
The outlook for the pharma sector remains stable led by healthy revenue growth and margins. ICRA said that it also expects the sample set’s capital structure and coverage indicators to remain comfortable despite higher capex and R&D expenses given the robust cash levels.
https://www.businesstoday.in/industry/pharma/story/indian-pharma-industry-estimated-to-grow-by-9-11-in-fy22-icra-317859-2022-01-04
