Sensex Opens In Red; Sun Pharma Falls 1.8% On Weak Q2 Result

Asian stock markets are lower today after weaker crude oil prices and doubts about US tax reforms took a toll on Wall Street. The Shanghai Composite is off 0.73% while the Hang Seng is down 0.70%. The Nikkei 225 is not down 0.93%.

Meanwhile, Indian share markets too have opened the day in red. BSE-Sensex is trading lower by 69 points and NSE-Nifty is trading lower by 19 points. S&P BSE Mid Cap is trading down by 0.1% and S&P BSE Small Cap is trading down by 0.2%.

Losses are largely seen in metal stocks and realty stocks. The rupee is trading at Rs 65.52 against the US$.

Sun Pharma share price opened the trading day down by 1.8% on the BSE after the company reported a 59.19% dip in consolidated net profit to Rs 9.12 billion beating street estimates for the quarter ended on September 30, 2017 compared to the year-ago quarter.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 22.35 billion for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Consolidated total revenue from operations stood at Rs 66.50 billion. It was Rs 82.60 billion in the same period of previous year.

A challenging US generic pricing environment coupled with continued investments in building global specialty business has impacted the company’s Q2 performance.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had issued a warning letter to the Halol unit in December 2015 for violation of good manufacturing practices. Since then, new product approvals have been held back by the regulator.

The company’s sales in the US, which contributed 30% to the total revenue, fell 44% to US$309 million in the quarter due to pricing pressure in existing products and lower contribution from generic of cancer drug Gleevec.

In another development, Biocon’s subsidiary Syngene International has expanded its ongoing drug discovery and development with US-based Bristol-Myers Squibb till 2026.

As per an article in The Economic Times, the expansion will enable the two companies to undertake a greater range of scientific research and development for pharmaceuticals across a broader range of activities.