Glenmark Q1 net up 23 pct on US generics push; beats f'cast

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Drugmaker Glenmark Pharmaceuticals' first quarter consolidated net profit rose 23 percent, substantially beating street estimates, as robust demand in the U.S. generics business pushed sales.

The Mumbai-based company on Tuesday reported a consolidated June quarter net profit of 2.10 billion rupees on net sales of 8.68 billion rupees.

A Reuters poll of 17 brokerages had forecast a net profit of 1.63 billion rupees on net sales of 7.93 billion rupees.

During the June quarter, Glenmark's U.S. generics business grew 37 percent to 2.81 billion rupees while sales from the European Union region more than doubled to 175.36 million rupees on year, the company said in a statement.

Domestic formulations revenue stood at 2.25 billion rupees in April-June, up 20 percent on year, it said.

"The India, U.S. and Latam (Latin America) business recorded strong growth for the quarter aided primarily by new products launched in the previous year," Glenn Saldanha, chairman and managing director, Glenmark Pharma, said in a statement.

"...Our drug discovery programme has also gained significant momentum during the quarter and we continue to remain confident of taking at least one new molecule to the clinics (human trials) every year."

Glenmark, in May, out-licensed its monoclonal antibody GBR500 to French drugmaker Sanofi for $613 million.

It also settled a litigation with Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd and Genzyme Corp over colesevelam hydrochloride - a drug used to remove bile acids from the body.

At 2:13 p.m., shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, which have gained 11.82 percent in value during April-June as compared to BSE healthcare index that rose 6.21 percent, were trading at 336.35 rupees, up 2.25 percent in a weak Mumbai market.

(Reporting by Kaustubh Kulkarni; Editing by Sunil Nair)