SMS Pharmaceuticals Ltd Q4 FY22 Earnings Conference Call Insights

Key highlights from SMS Pharmaceuticals Ltd (SMSPHARMA) Q4 FY22 Earnings Concall

Management Update:

• SMSPHARMA said its near-term focus remains on scaling up production for ibuprofen along with expanding the customer base for ibuprofen.

Q&A Highlights:

• Akash Mehta of Capaz Investments asked about revenue contribution declining sharply from the ARV segment and current situation. Vamsi Krishna ED replied that last couple of quarters were a bit dull due to the bidding process getting postponing. In 1H23, SMSPHARMA will see normalized projections.

• Akash Mehta of Capaz Investments also enquired about the revenue contribution of molnupiravir and nirmatrelvir. Vamsi Krishna ED replied it is very difficult to predict because one could suddenly expect an unexpected wave and suddenly the wave could gathered some good momentum and product sales could go high.

• Ranvir Singh with Sunidhi Securities asked where the company is seeing ibuprofen business going price and volume wise. Vamsi Krishna ED answered that SMSPHARMA has one of the biggest bag sizes in the market for ibuprofen, which gives better cost position. By end of FY23, SMSPHARMA will be in a strong position in ibuprofen occupying almost 80% of its installed capacity.

• Ranvir Singh with Sunidhi Securities asked about the current capacity. Vamsi Krishna ED answered that the current installed capacity is around 500 metric tons per month.

• Ranvir Singh with Sunidhi Securities asked that of the INR200 crore capex spent on ibuprofen, what’s the peak revenue expected from this project. Vamsi Krishna ED replied that the company is expecting about INR450-500 crores revenue at peak scale operation.

• Ranvir Singh of Sunidhi Securities asked about the pipeline in VKT Pharma for next 2-3 years. Vamsi Krishna ED replied that VKT Pharma got approval for 6 products. So their full performance will be coming in FY24. In 1Q23, the actual commercial batches are being dispatched to customers.

• Rupesh Tatiya with IntelSense Capital asked about margins across the industry. Vamsi Krishna ED across the industry lot of companies margins have reduced due to China impact, war, and logistics costs.

• Rupesh Tatiya with IntelSense Capital asked that in the next 2-3 years what are another 1-2 big products that could be meaningful for the company’s size. Vamsi Krishna ED said that currently, SMSPHARMA’s R&D is working on couple of other major volume products. The company is also working on 2-3 other products for a long-term scenario.

• Aditya Sen of RoboCapital enquired if the company will start expansion of the additional 500 tonnes capacity by end of FY23. Vamsi Krishna ED replied that most likely SMSPHARMA will start the expansion. If the company occupies 70%, 80% of its existing capacity, it would be taking up the further expansion.

• Arti Sharma of BKC Investment asked about the current product launch lineup from its JV Chemo and what’s the revenue of this JV for FY22. Vamsi Krishna ED said launch line, SMSPHARMA has already commercialized some products. With respect to sales, it’s contribution is around 5-8%.

• Arti Sharma of BKC Investment asked about the molnupiravir and nirmatrelvir revenue opportunities in short term. Vamsi Krishna ED said these are COVID related opportunities. While budgeting also the company is not anticipating any revenue coming in. If there is another wave, the company will be ready with the stocks.