Sensex Trades 438 Points Up; Bharat Forge Rallies on Strong Q3 Result

Thu, 8 Feb 01:30 pm

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After opening the day on a positive note, the Indian share markets extended gains and are presently trading strong. Barring metal stocks, all sectoral indices are trading in green with realty stocks and IT stocks leading the pack of gainers.

The BSE Sensex is trading higher by 438 points (up 1.3%) while the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 126 points (up 1.2%). The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 1.9% while BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 2.4%. Gold prices, per 10 grams, are trading at Rs 39,824 levels. Silver price, per kilogram is trading at Rs 37,660 levels. Crude oil is trading at Rs 3,959 per barrel. The rupee is trading at 64.14 to the US$.

In the news from the pharma sector. As per an article in a leading financial daily, Lupin's joint venture (JV) YL Biologics (YLB) has successfully completed global Phase III clinical trial of its investigational Etanercept biosimilar (YLB113).

The Phase III study of YLB113 was a multinational randomized double-blind controlled trial of 52 weeks' duration which included more than 500 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 11 countries.

It compared YLB113's efficacy and safety directly against Enbrel (of Amgen/Pfizer) which has a global market of US$11 billion, and is a widely successful biologic agent globally used for the treatment of multiple autoimmune disorders including RA.

YLB is a joint venture between the company and Yoshindo in Japan.

The primary endpoint was an equivalent improvement in the rheumatoid arthritis, as measured by American College of Rheumatology 20 (ACR20) response rate. The ACR20 response rate of YLB113 has been found to be within a pre-defined equivalence margin that is expected by most advanced regulatory agencies for marketing authorization.

In addition, safety and immunogenicity (antibody formation) of YLB113 was also found to be similar to Enbrel indicating therapeutic equivalence.

One shall note that, Biosimilars and Biologics are burgeoning sectors. Also, major scientific and technological advances, coupled with socio-demographic changes and increasing demand for medicines will revive the pharma industry's fortunes in another 10 to 20 years.

But given the complexity of biologics, will Indian companies be able to break some ground in this space? (Subscription Required). Going forward, whether the monetization of biosimilars prove to be a big growth driver for the company will be the key thing to watch out for.

Meanwhile, the Indian pharmaceutical industry has come under a lot of regulatory pressure in the past few years.

The sector has faced great volatility over the years.

We had written about the current predicament of Indian pharma companies in one of the premium editions of the 5 Minute WrapUp:

• Over the past few years, risk in the US markets has increased. The US Food and Drug Administration has become stricter on products entering US borders. Surprise inspections have increased and companies are being issued warning letters. This has impacted the business and earnings of Indian pharma players, causing major volatility for the sector.

Is the Worst Over for all the Pharma Stocks?

The list of pharma sector woes is long. So, is there light at the end of the tunnel? Girish Shetty, Research Analyst thinks there is.

As per him, it doesn't make sense to paint all pharma stocks with the same brush. The leaders of the industry will certainly survive this phase. There are interesting, niche pharma stocks that are worth your attention.

Facing pricing pressures in the domestic and export markets, currency fluctuations, as well as manufacturing issues related to their plant, there is a transformation happening in the overall sector as to how business is done and will be done in the future.

In another development, Bharat Forge share price surged 5.7% after it reported healthy earnings growth in quarter ended December 2017. The growth was mainly driven by strong commercial vehicles business and continued momentum in exports.

Consolidated profit grew by 77.4% at Rs 2.3 billion year-on-year. Revenue from operations grew by 47.4% to Rs 13.9 billion compared to Rs 9.4 billion in same quarter last fiscal.

Despite sharp increase in commodity prices, manufacturing cost and rupee appreciation, EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) growth of 59.8% YoY at Rs 4.2 billion and margin expansion of 230 basis points at 29.9% in Q3 were largely in line with analyst estimates of Rs 3.9 billion and 30%, respectively.

Reportedly, operational growth was driven by better product mix and enhanced productivity.

The growth in profitability was despite higher tax expenses that nearly doubled to Rs 1.2 billion from Rs 0.6 billion YoY.

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