Granules India Ltd (Granules) has created a leadership position in several generic drugs on the back of product-focused, vertically integrated business model. The company has a strong presence in ‘first line of defence’ products including Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, Guaifenesin and Metformin. A major part of the company’s revenues is from exports to the US and Europe. The company’s key customers include some of the leading generic and branded pharmaceutical companies. The company has grown to become a knowledge driven, R&D focused, multi-product organization, with inherent strength in efficient manufacturing of high-volume pharmaceutical products. Over the past 34 years, the company has worked towards strengthening its core through its five products and is, today, an integrated player with a strong market presence. The company’s focus is on forward and backward integration; to do this, Granules is building its presence in new areas, segments and divisions to reach its target.
Established player with integrated business model
Over the years, Granules has evolved from being an API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients)
manufacturer to an entity with strong presence across the value chain in the pharmaceuticals
industry, thus establishing itself as a complete global pharmaceutical player with
presence in APIs, PFIs (Pre-formulation Ingredients) and FDs (Finished dosages).
From a commercial perspective, its vertical integration approach gives it a competitive
advantage for both drug substance and the drug products in niche areas.
Expanding its product basket with economies of scale
The company is expanding its product basket to address the prospective demand across
several markets while also increasing the market share of existing products. It
added two new molecules to its existing core portfolio in FY20 and is expected to
launch nine products in FY21. The company possesses industry leading batch size
for manufacturing PFIs and is among the largest in APIs in its core business product
portfolio. This large-scale production helps it reduce production costs and improve
manufacturing efficiency.
Capacity Expansion to provide impetus to growth
The company had incurred capex in FY2020 and considering the robust demand for its
products, we expect the facilities to achieve full capacity utilization levels by
the end of FY2021. Further the company has initiated a capacity expansion plan wherein
the company shall be investing Rs 350-400 crores in FY2021 and around Rs 300 crores
in FY2022, both funded through internal accruals. The capex would be towards expanding
existing facilities and setting up new facilities thus providing clear outlook on
the company’s capability to cater to the additional demand going ahead.
Focus on R&D capabilities
The company is sharpening its competitive advantage with intellectual property-protected
innovation for limited competition opportunities. It has a unique portfolio with
a combination of high volume molecules and complex niche products whereby majority
of R&D spend is done in high volume core business. The company’s strong
R&D capabilities are the driving force for current and future momentum and growth.
COVID-19 Impact
The company’s products and R&D programs will have minimal impact as it
caters to the essential items category. The company continues to have normal supply
levels for most of its products and supply of its medicines will remain at normal
levels throughout the pandemic.
Key Risks
Delay in product launches in the US market may impact the business operations.
Negative outcome of USFDA inspection at manufacturing facility.
The US market accounts for 37-39% of Indian formulation exports. More than 50% of India’s incremental exports over the past five fiscals was to the US. Over fiscals 2013-16, exports growth was at a strong ~18% CAGR, driven by patent expiry of blockbuster drugs over 2012-14. However, growth fell to ~2% CAGR over fiscals 2016-19 on account of pricing pressures experienced during fiscals 2017 and 2018. Fiscal 2019 has been a year of recovery with abating pricing pressures and players moving away from conventional generics to limited competition molecules. Exports growth remained at double digits in fiscal 2020 as well on back of new launches, especially limited competition, and complex drugs.
During the past five years, pharma exports to European markets clocked a slower 6-7% CAGR owing to stricter pricing regulations and adverse currency movements. Even the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany, which traditionally had less stringent pricing mechanisms, introduced regulations to control the government’s healthcare expenditure. However, we estimate pharma exports grew ~11% in fiscal 2020. Sharp currency depreciation has also aided the exports.
Particulars | Mar-18 | Mar-19 | Mar-20 | Mar-21E | Mar-22E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Net Sales | 1684.62 | 2279.20 | 2598.60 | 3197.20 | 3822.90 |
Raw Materials Consumed | 896.32 | 1255.56 | 1280.93 | 1539.45 | 1828.70 |
Gross profit | 788.30 | 1023.64 | 1317.67 | 1657.75 | 1994.20 |
Margins% | 46.80% | 44.90% | 50.70% | 51.90% | 52.20% |
Employee Cost | 165.21 | 209.82 | 259.03 | 315.30 | 375.10 |
Other Expenses | 344.68 | 429.79 | 511.80 | 619.30 | 738.20 |
EBITDA | 278.42 | 384.04 | 546.84 | 723.15 | 880.90 |
Margins% | 16.50% | 16.80% | 21.00% | 22.60% | 23.00% |
Depreciation | 76.20 | 105.48 | 136.95 | 161.76 | 183.28 |
EBIT | 202.22 | 278.56 | 409.89 | 561.39 | 697.62 |
Other Income | 10.84 | 26.68 | 36.55 | 30.39 | 33.89 |
Interest | 33.06 | 28.46 | 27.02 | 25.28 | 22.28 |
Profit Before Taxation & Exceptional Items | 180.00 | 276.78 | 419.42 | 566.50 | 709.23 |
Exceptional Income / Expenses | 27.73 | ||||
Profit Before Tax | 180.00 | 276.78 | 447.15 | 566.50 | 709.23 |
Provision for Tax | 63.40 | 89.11 | 115.70 | 141.60 | 177.30 |
PAT | 116.60 | 187.67 | 331.40 | 424.90 | 531.90 |
EPS | 5.22 | 9.30 | 13.40 | 17.20 | 21.50 |
We expect the company to post strong growth on back of favourable product mix (increasing share of high margin PFI and FD Segment), cost efficiencies due to effective manufacturing process coupled with better utilization of plants. The company is witnessing surge in demand across segments and we expect the same to sustain going ahead majorly supported by strong product pipeline, expanding into new geographies, and benefits of incremental capacities. The stock is currently trading at PE of 12.2x FY22E EPS.