Piramal Pharma allocates Rs 330 crore towards capex H2FY24

Piramal Pharma Limited plans to allocate around Rs 330 crore towards capital expenditure in H2FY24 and to commercialise the pipeline in the hospital generics business over the next five years, Chairperson Nandini Piramal told BT.

While the company has launched over 100 new products in the last three years in the India consumer healthcare business, coupled with strong growth in e-commerce, Piramal Pharma targets to reach Rs 1000 crore this year in this segment, reinforcing PPL’s objective of consistent sustainable growth.

According to the company’s annual report, FY2023 was a challenging year marked by rising interest rates, geopolitical uncertainty, post-pandemic demand-supply volatility, and a significant rise in energy prices. External factors significantly influenced Piramal Pharma's financial performance. Throughout the year, the company's revenue from operations experienced a noteworthy 8% YoY growth, reaching Rs 7,082 crore.

"After a challenging FY22 and FY23, the current fiscal year is about recovery and turnaround for the business. Piramal Pharma Limited’s revenue from operations grew by 14% in H1 FY24. The company is focusing on organic growth, cost control, and operational excellence,” said Piramal.

“PPL has also successfully cleared over 40 regulatory inspections and 300 customer audits since FY23. In August 2023, PPL closed its rights issue and paid off Rs 950 crore in debt,” she said, adding that PPL has also undertaken capacity extensions across Turbhe (India), Grangemouth (UK), and Riverview (US) sites, which are now witnessing healthy customer demands.

PPL has a presence across three business verticals: Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO), Complex Hospital Generics (CHG), and India Consumer Healthcare (ICH). It has a commercial presence spread across over 100 countries, including the regulated markets of the US, Europe, and Japan. The company has a diversified manufacturing footprint, with 17 development and manufacturing facilities spread across India, the United Kingdom, and North America, enabling market proximity for customers and a cost-efficient production cycle.

Per the annual report, the CDMO business demonstrated a robust YoY growth of 7%, while the CHG business and ICH business achieved impressive growth rates of 14% and 6%, respectively. On a like-to-like basis, the YoY growth in the company's ICH business stood at 16%.

Piramal indicated that the company is getting good underlying demand for its integrated CDMO services, especially in the niche capability areas of high potent APIs, antibody drug conjugates, peptides, sterile injectable, and hormonal products.

Piramal further said that the sustainability targets set by PPL are equally important as her business objectives. These include reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42% from the 2022 baseline by 2030, reducing freshwater usage, and recycling and reusing wastewater.

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