Cipla Aiming at $1-billion Domestic Turnover in 2018-19

India’s fourth-largest drug firm, Cipla, is bullish on the domestic market and is aiming to cross the billion dollar consolidated revenue mark for its consolidated revenue in the current financial year.

The company reported revenues of Rs. 15,219-crore, growing 6 per cent, with income from the India operations seeing a 6.3 per cent jump at Rs. 5,687-crore in FY18. “In terms of the domestic business we are on a strong footing as growth was in healthy double digits,” Cipla global CFO Mr. Kedar Upadhye said at an earnings conference recently. “We are quite confident and we are set for a billion dollar consolidated revenue in the domestic market in FY19,” he added.

The drug maker expects the in-licensing deals with innovator companies, focus on certain therapeutic segments and sales force productivity optimisation measures to aid growth in India.

“This financial year, our focus remained on strengthening our portfolio and deepening our presence in priority markets. We are happy that our efforts on cost and efficiency improvement helped us deliver the full year margin ahead of our guidance range,” Cipla’s Managing Director and Global CEO Mr. Umang Vohra said. The focus for next year will be to continue on the growth trajectory in key markets, he added.

Overseas markets

The company is looking at consolidating its position in South Africa, US, Europe and emerging markets. “We will ramp up our US business, which is poised for good growth during this year with our key differentiated launches,” Mr. Vohra said. The company is also looking at significant investments in R&D to build a strong pipeline, with over 20 targeted filings in FY19. This year will also see higher investments towards clinical trials for key respiratory assets and focus on building speciality assets, Mr. Vohra added.