Mumbai, Aug 25: Pharma major Cipla today said it is expecting to scale up its revenue by over six times to Rs 15,000-20,000 crore by 2020 and assured shareholders the promoters have no plan to divest their stakes.
“With a significant growth in the business, we are expecting revenues to grow to between Rs 15,000 and 20,000 crore by 2020,” Cipla Chairman and Managing Director YK Hamied told shareholders at the 75th annual general meeting here. Hamied assured the shareholders that he or his family have no plan to divest their stakes in the company.
“We want Cipla's name to grow over and over forever…I can assure you that most of them (stake sale reports) are baseless.”
Earlier this year, there were rumours that the founders of Cipla were planning to ship out and the German pharma major Merck would buy the domestic drug major. The company had achieved net revenue of Rs 6,135 crore in FY11.
In the first quarter of 2010-11, the domestic drug market grew 14 per cent while Cipla grew by 10.11 per cent, Hamied said.
However, Hamied declined to give any specific guidance for the current fiscal. “This year with the rationalisation planned, your company is aiming to stabilise and consolidate,” he said.
The company is upgrading its facilities at Kurkumbh, Baddi, Sikkim, Patalganga and Goa at a capex of Rs 600 crore, he said. This would also include the R&D centre at Patalganga (Maharashtra) and Vikroli in Mumbai.
On the export front, Hamied cautioned about a possible slowdown in its business in Libya, Syria and Algeria due to the prevailing political situation in those countries. However, Cipla is looking at strategic alliances to expand in the emerging markets, he added.
Cipla's international business continued to be a major revenue driver with almost 55 per cent of the total income originating from international markets in FY11 USD 420 million.
The company is in the process of consolidating its international business and strategies are being reviewed to optimise value for its technology and product range, he said.
The company continues to forge partnerships and alliances with large generic pharmaceutical companies for product development and supply in developed markets.
Cipla continues its humanitarian mission of making affordable medicines available to the entire world. It is today the largest single supplier of HIV and anti-malarial drugs in the world in terms of volume.
Cipla would like to be in line with industry growth and intends to focus more on the rural domestic market, Hamied said.
Currently, the company has 30 manufacturing units in the country out of which 11 have all major international regulatory approvals. PTI
