Leading 30 pharma players boost net earnings growth of 31 per cent in 2024-25

The leading 30 pharmaceutical companies, with revenues above Rs 2,500 crore, have registered robust net profit growth of 31 per cent during the financial year 2024-25 on account of new product launches, investments in research & development, capacity enhancement, partnerships and differentiated product portfolio. These players overcome problems like stiff competition in highly regulated markets, price erosion, external volatility, geopolitical uncertainties and global supply chain constraints.  With strong growth in profits, these companies declared handsome returns to investors in the form of dividends as well as improved returns from share market price movements. 

The revenues of Pharmabiz sample of top 30 pharmaceutical companies stepped up by 10.9 per cent to Rs. 3,50,133 crore during 2024-25 from Rs. 3,15,798 crore in the previous year. Out of 30 companies, 11 companies recorded revenues above Rs. 10,000 crore and 8 companies posted revenues of over Rs. 5,000 crore. Sun Pharmaceuticals maintained its top position with revenues of Rs. 52,041 crore which worked out the growth of 9 per cent. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories grabbed second spot with revenues of Rs. 31,632 crore from Rs. 27,140 crore in the previous year, registering 16.6 per cent growth. Aurobindo Pharma went down to third rank from its second rank with revenues of Rs. 31,378 crore in 2024-25 from Rs. 28,705 crore. Cipla maintained its position at fourth place with sales of Rs. 27,145 crore as against Rs. 25,447 crore. Zydus Lifesciences moved from sixth place in last year to fifth place with sales of Rs. 22,574 crore.

Lupin reported revenues of Rs. 22,192 crore and went down to sixth place in the Pharmabiz sample of top thirty pharma companies during 2024-25 followed by Biocon Rs. 15,052 crore, Glenmark Pharma Rs. 13,146 crore, Alkem Laboratories Rs. 12,964 crore, Mankind Pharma Rs. 12,207 crore and Torrent Pharma Rs. 11,317 crore.

The other operating income (OOI) of 30 companies remained almost stagnant at Rs. 4,147 crore as compared to Rs. 4,110 crore in the previous year. The OOI of Dr Reddy’s increased to Rs. 1,011 from Rs. 872 crore and that of Lupin went up to Rs. 516 crore from Rs. 354 crore. Aurobindo Pharma’s OOI increased to Rs. 346 crore from Rs. 297 crore and that of Cipla moved up to Rs 402 crore from Rs. 327 crore. Sun Pharma and Biocon reported lower OOI during 2024-25 to Rs. 537 crore and Rs. 210 crore as against Rs 738 crore and Rs 560 crore, respectively.  

Other income of 30 companies went up by 30.7 per cent during 2024-25 to Rs. 9,499 crore from Rs. 7,270 crore in the previous year basically due to significant jump in other income of Sun Pharma (Rs. 1,965 crore), Alkem Laboratories (Rs. 494 crore), Mankind Pharma (Rs. 537 crore), Biocon (Rs. 1,208 crore), Natco Pharma (Rs. 354 crore), etc. The growth in other income helped these companies to register higher profits. 

The employees cost of 30 pharma companies increased by 11.7 per cent during 2024-25 to Rs. 65,807 crore from Rs. 58,900 crore in the previous year. However, Interest burden remained at satisfactory level and increased only by 5 per cent to Rs. 5,708 crore as against Rs. 5,434 crore and depreciation charges increased by 8.9 per cent to Rs. 8,573 crore from Rs. 17,051 crore.  Thus, higher growth in income and limited rise in employees cost, interest burden and depreciation charges pushed profit before tax to Rs. 72,881 crore as against Rs. 58,839 crore in the previous year, registering handsome gain of 23.9 per cent. 

Indian pharma companies focused on R&D activities to stepped up their presence in the highly regulated markets like US and Europe. Sun Pharma invested Rs. 3,154 crore on R&D during 2024-25 as compared to Rs. 3,128 crore in the previous year. Similarly, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories spent Rs. 2,738 crore on R&D as against Rs 2,287 crore. Zydus Lifescience incurred R&D investment of Rs 1,856 crore and Lupin Rs. 1,767 crore. Alkem Labs, Torrent Pharma and Alembic Pharma invested Rs 562 crore, Rs. 581 crore and Rs. 522 crore during 2024-25. 

These companies established strong presence in North America, Europe, Emerging Markets and ROW with introduction of new products. Sun Pharma’s US sales increased to Rs. 16,240 crore from Rs. 15,349 crore in the previous year. Aurobindo Pharma has notched up US sales of Rs. 14,816 crore as compared to Rs. 13,867 crore and Dr Reddy’s Labs registered US sales of Rs. 14,516 crore as against Rs. 12,989 crore. This was followed by Zydus Lifesciences Rs. 11,050 crore, Lupin Rs. 8,395 crore and Cipla Rs. 7,899 crore. Jubilant Pharma and Laurus Labs generated US sales around 80 per cent and 36 per cent of revenues. Sales in Europe by Sun Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma and Dr Reddy’s Labs increased to Rs. 9,416 crore, Rs. 8,356 crore and Rs. 3,588 crore respectively. 

The domestic sales of Sun Pharma improved to Rs. 16,923 crore in 2024-25 from Rs. 14,889 crore in the previous year. Cipla also dominated Indian market with sales of Rs. 11,615 crore and Mankind Pharma to Rs. 10,675 crore. Alkem Labs recorded domestic revenue of Rs. 8,984 crore and Lupin registered domestic sales of Rs. 7,577 crore as against Rs. 6,656 crore in the previous year. Dr Reddy’s Labs Indian sales increased by 15.8 per cent to Rs. 5,373 crore and that of Torrent Pharma’s domestic sales moved to Rs. 6,393 crore from Rs. 5,666 crore.     

The profit before tax (PBT) of Strides Pharma has taken quantum jump of over 228 per cent to Rs. 420 crore from Rs. 128 crore and that of Laurus Labs moved up by over 105 per cent to Rs. 484 crore from Rs. 236 crore. Glenmark’s PBT went up by 89.1 per cent to Rs. 1,772 crore from Rs. 937 crore and Lupin PBT increased by 65.8 per cent to Rs. 4,015 crore from Rs. 2,422 crore in the previous year. The PBT of Sun Pharma, Zydus Lifesciences, Divi’s Labs, Piramal Pharma, GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, Natco Pharma, Emcure Pharma, Jubilant Pharma, etc went up smartly by over 20 per cent during 2024-25. However, PBT of Gland Pharma and Syngene International was under pressure and declined marginally. Wockhardt has successfully reduce its loss before tax to Rs. 16 crore from Rs. 406 crore in the 2023-24 and Dishman registered PBT of Rs. 37 crore as compared to loss before tax of Rs. 116 crore.  

The tax burden of 30 companies went up by 19 per cent to Rs. 16,827 crore from Rs. 14,143 crore in the previous year. As tax provision of Biocon, Piramal Pharma, Alembic Pharma, Strides Pharma and Eris Lifesciences, increased by over 100 per cent during 2024-25. Sun Pharma’s tax burden went up by 93 per cent to Rs. 2,772 crore from Rs. 1,439 crore and that of Laurus Labs’ moved up by 91.2 per cent to Rs. 130 crore from Rs 80 crore. The tax burden of Zydus Lifesciences, Lupin, Alkem Labs, GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, Natco Pharma and Jubilant Pharma went up by over 40 per cent during 2024-25. 

The Pharmabiz sample of 30 leading companies strengthen their financial position during 2024-25 and built-up strong reserves. As against the aggregate equity capital of Rs. 3,935 crore, the reserves of these entities increased by 16.2 per cent to Rs. 3,72,994 crore from Rs. 3,21,053 crore in the previous year. The reserves of Zydus Lifesciences, Natco Pharma and Wockhardt increased by over 30 percent during 2024-25. Similarly, Mankind Pharma posted 53.3 per cent growth in reserves to Rs. 14,291 crore and Emcure Pharma registered growth of 53.6 per cent to Rs. 4,257 crore. Piramal Pharma has largest equity capital of Rs. 1,324 crore and was followed by Biocon at Rs. 600 crore, Emcure Pharma Rs 189 crore. GSK and Torrent Pharma Rs. 169 crore each.  The equity capital of Cipla, Zydus Life, Laurus is above Rs .100 crore. 

These companies have distributed handsome returns to investors in the form of dividend during 2024-25. Multinational companies like Abbott India declared hefty equity dividend of 4,750 per cent and Glaxo 420 per cent per share for face value of Rs. 10 each share. Sun Pharma declared total dividend of 1,600 per cent followed by Zydus Life 1,100 per cent, Divi’s Labs 1,500 per cent, Ajanta 1,400 per cent and J B Chemicals 1,550 per cent during 2024-25. Similarly, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Cipla, Lupin, Torrent Pharma, Alembic Pharma, Eris Lifescience and Jubilant Pharmove declared handsome dividend of over 500 per cent during 2024-25.  

Indian pharma industry has put up good show during 2024-25 with strong basket of new products, contract manufacturing, focus on regulated markets and higher ANDA approvals from market authorities. These companies are engaged in building R&D pipeline as well as new investments in capacities.  Further, players are looking for new partnerships and exclusive licensing agreements and acquisition of additional capacities. Despite uncertainties regarding new tariffs and geographical situation, Indian pharma will enhance its presence in international market in the coming years. The stock market share price movements remained volatile during 2024-25 and the BSE healthcare index of 105 companies improved by 18.2 per cent to 41,423 points as at the end of March 2025. BSE Sensex improved to 77,414 points from 73,561 points during FY2024-25.