Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Q4 FY23 earnings conference call of Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference, please signal an operator by pressing Star, then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Sudhir Menon, CFO of Torrent Pharma Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Welcome to Q4 FY23 earnings call. Q4 continued to witness robust growth in branded generic markets, aided by market share gain, performance of the top brands and new launches. The branded generic market, which now constitutes 70%+, of the total revenue, has grown 20%+. The scheme of arrangement for amalgamation of Curatio is approved by NCLT. Pursuant to this, the business combination has been recognized with effect from October 14, 2022, which was the acquisition date or the appointed date. The financials now reflect the effect of amalgamation effective October 14, 2022. Curatio is now fully integrated into Torrent. In terms of financial performance during the quarter, revenues were INR 2,491 crores, up by 17% year-over-year.
Gross margins were at 72%. Operating EBITDA margins were 29.2%. This quarter, there was a one-time inventory write-off impact of around INR 10 crore for one of the COVID product which we had. Adjusted for that, the operating EBITDA is 29.6% for the quarter. Operating EBITDA was INR 727 crore and grew by 30% on a year-on-year basis. At the end of FY23, the leverage in terms of net debt to EBITDA stands at 1.55x. The board of directors have recommended a final dividend of INR 8 per equity shares. I now hand over to Sanjay for taking us through the performance of the various geographies.
Starting with India, the India revenue was at INR 1,257 crores and grew by 22%. As per AIOCD secondary data, Torrent growth for the quarter was 12% versus IPM growth of 11%. For the full year at FY23, Torrent growth was 16% versus IPM growth of 9%. Growth was aided by the strong performance of top brands in chronic therapies, new launch momentum, and the growth rate synergy bolstered by the integration of Curatio portfolio. During the quarter, we have launched the consumer healthcare platform with a dedicated trade field force to augment our distribution. Field force strength at the end of the year was 5,500.
Consistent with the acquisition of Curatio and consistent market share gain in base business, the company's IPM rank has gained two ranks and now is the sixth-largest player in the Indian pharmaceutical market. The rank in 2021, 2022 was 8, and it is now currently 6. Torrent has 18 brands in top 500 brands of IPM, with 13 brands more than INR 100 crores. We expect our India business to continue current growth momentum backed by new launches, Curatio synergies, performance of top brands, and gradual scale-up of consumer healthcare platform. Moving on to our international territories and starting with Brazil. In Q4, Brazil is the largest revenue territory outside India, with revenue of INR 318 crores. This presents a growth of 27%. Constant currency revenue is at BRL 201 million, up by 17%.
As per IQVIA, for the quarter ending March 2023, Torrent's growth is 24% versus a market growth of 12%. For 2022, 2023, IQVIA data shows Torrent's growth at 22% as compared to market growth of 15%. We have launched seven brands in the last 24 months, and as of today, we have double-digit market shares in four of them. In 2023, 2024, we plan to launch further six brands, three in CNS and three in cardio. Brazil witnessed an all-round performance with market share gain in base portfolio. In CNS, we have 12 brands that grew faster in the market, out of which nine grew more than 10%. In cardio/diabetes, we have seven brands that grew faster in the market, out of which five grew in double digits.
In 2022-2023, Torrent added 36 reps to its CNS field force, bringing the total number of sales reps in Brazil to 295. Torrent continues to strengthen its pipeline with 14 filings and 12 approvals in 2022-2023. Our plan is to increase our portfolio coverage from the current 28% to 40% of CNS and CNS therapeutic areas by FY25-26. Our generics business is growing rapidly and now represents 12% of our sales. For Germany, our Q4 revenue was at INR 253 crores, up by 16%. Constant currency revenue was EUR 29 million, up by 11%. The last 2 quarters, Germany has been witnessing steady sequential recovery, driven by new tender wins and growth in the OTC segment.
Incrementally, the company has won certain 10 tenders, which shall complement the recovery trend in future quarters, starting in H2 of 2023-2024. In 2023, we have launched more than 10 new products in Germany. A similar momentum will be maintained in 2023-2024. We have also increased the size of our OTC field force in Germany.
... Torrent's focus areas will include cost optimization to improve our competitiveness in the tender segment, launching new products, and developing its OTC segment. In the US, our Q4 revenue was at INR 280 crores, down by 1%. Constant currency US revenue is at $34 million, down by 9%. Growth was impacted by the price erosion of the base portfolio and lack of new launches pending inspection of facilities. US FDA recently inspected the Dahej facility and issued a Form 483 with two observations. None of these observations were related to data integrity, and there were no repeat observations. We have also received approval for our first onco product from our new oncology facility. Our plan is to continue to file two to three onco products every year.
Torrent's focus areas for the U.S. shall include getting clearance of its U.S. facilities, continuing to strengthen our product pipeline, and building a niche portfolio with a focus on profitability. To conclude, I would like to say that we expect to further deepen our presence in branded generics markets, aided by Curatio integration, new launches, and foraying into new therapies and new divisions. Germany shall continue to witness recovery, continued recovery trends, aided by incremental tender wins and OTC expansion. Until the clearance of our U.S. facilities, our U.S. focus will continue to be able to maintain a niche and profitable presence. Operator, we can open the call to questions now. Thank you.
Thank you very much, sir. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star one on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Akash Agarwal from Axis Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, this is Prakash. Good evening, all. Question on consumer platform. If you could just give us some broad color, you know, apart from Shelcal, what are the products added? What is the plan ahead in terms of portfolio, and what is the field force today on this?
Prakash, we've just done a pilot study on 1 brand, which is Shelcal, wherein we've invested in the advertisement in 4 states, and probably would take it pan-India in the coming year. That's the basic plan. We've also identified couple of more products, we'll start talking about it when we actually work on those products in 2023, 2024. I think in terms of the field force, which is basically the logistics support and ensuring the distribution reach, it's a combination of third-party services plus in-house managers or executives who would manage this. Total combined put together, we're talking about roughly around 250-300 foot on the ground.
Okay, okay. Any color you are adding on what kind of products or brands you will be adding in future?
Something similar to Shelcal, I would say, Prakash, another product which can be thought of is Unienzyme. As I said, I mean, maybe one or two quarters down the line, we'll provide you with more colors on the number of products which would get added from here on.
What's the differentiator here? I mean, in terms of pricing, I mean, it's OTC, so anybody can take it, so it will lead to higher, you know, savings in cost and better margins, or what is the game plan here?
Yeah, you're right. I mean, ultimately, the end price doesn't change, right? I mean, for both the segment, the RX segment as well as the CHC segment. As I said, you know, since this is the first quarter , we are getting into this platform, as we go forward, things will become much clearer, I would say. You're right, I mean, at least as far as the discounts which we see in the channel, which is approximately 30% for RX, could be lower, I would say, as far as OTC is concerned. As I said, we'll have to wait for one or two quarters of performance before we can really confirm that, whether there's a possible upside coming from this channel.
Got it. On the R&D, it's inched up a bit, maybe due to rupee dollar, where are the efforts now since US is subscale now $35 million? What are the, you know, key focus areas, top three focus areas for our R&D investments?
Essentially, three focus areas includes our branded generics market. We are doing, you know, a little bit incremental innovation products for India. We're doing a larger portfolio, so, between 10 and 15 products a year for Brazil. We are also doing oncology on a global basis. There are projects which will work for U.S., Europe, Germany, and also for the out licensing business in Europe. These products are consuming more resources than before. There are a few U.S.-specific products, I would say about 5 to 6, that are going to be taken up every year. It's a less U.S.-intensive and more global and more branded generic orientation.
Okay. When you said oncology in your opening remarks, 2-3 products every year, you meant for global markets, India, ROW?
Right. All products will be for global markets.
Currently, you have any portfolio which is in the market and also in ROW and other markets?
We received the first approval from Bileshwarpura, which is the site of the new plant, recently, and this product is sorafenib, and it'll be launched in the June, July timeframe.
That is across your ROW markets?
No, it'll be first launched in the U.S. and then subsequently in other markets.
Okay. Okay. Got it. I have more questions. I'll join back. Thank you, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. We have the next question from the line of Tushar Manudhane from Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. Just on the edge, now that, because of 2 observations, how to think about the product approvals per se? I mean, there would be good number of products where CRLs would be primarily on account of, you know, compliance not being in place, right?
Correct. You are right. Essentially, it's still a few months off. You know, we have to respond to the concerns of the FDA, the 2 observations, and then hopefully we would get the EIR in about 3 months, 3-4 months after that. New approvals would only come 3-4 months after the EIR has been received. We're talking about at least a 6-7 month lag from today. What you would see is that the current portfolio that has been filed from Dahej can be divided into 3 buckets. The first bucket is products, you know, which would get approved, but which have still some economic value left.
I would say there is, I mean, others have launched it, there is still enough pricing power in the market for us to make sense to launch these products. These will be single-digit number of products. The second bucket would be products which are not economically viable. These products, because there's too much competition and the pricing has gone down to a point where it makes it non-lucrative to launch them. Again, these will be a high single-digit number of products which we would not launch. Bucket number 3 from the agents, products which were anyway scheduled to be launched in 2024 end or 2025, and these will be launched on time.
That's how I would see it, but it's a, it's a little way off.
Particularly Revlimid, if you could clarify, is it from Dahej?
Revlimid is not constrained by the plant issue. Revlimid, we have a settlement, and we'll be in the third batch of people who launch. It's really not a concern about the plant issue for Revlimid. Revlimid is not made in the Torrent plants anyway. It's made at a third party.
That's good. Just lastly, if you could share Curatio sales, EBITDA for FY23?
Tushar, I won't be able to share the EBITDA, because, as a policy, we don't talk about, geography-wise EBITDA. In terms of performance, I can say Quarter Four, Curatio has grown at around 19%.
Good. Just so just from a reference that, at the time of acquisition, we had highlighted about or indicated about the overall sales and margins, which we would end up on FY23. Are we more or less on track?
Yeah, yeah, we are on track. Last quarter, if I don't know if you were there, what we had indicated is there's already an improvement of margin by 4%-5%. Now, with the integration already happening or happened, you'll see a faster margin accretion happening on this on this portfolio, Curatio. Whatever we had said, we are on track to achieve it.
All good. That's it. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Damayanti Kerai from HSBC. Please go ahead.
Hi, thank you for the opportunity. My question is regarding India business. First, fourth quarter numbers, you can say, like, what is base business growth, excluding Curatio, and if you can split that base business growth into volume, price, and new launches? That's my first question.
Yeah. I have the internal numbers with me. I think, India business, we've grown at around 22%, including Curatio. Excluding Curatio, it is around 15%, the base business. The breakup of the growth drivers for that 15% would be broadly 3% is volume, 7% is price, and the rest is new products.
Okay. In your opening remark, you mentioned that new launches will be key, one of key drivers for India business next year. What are your thoughts on volume and price contribution say for going forward?
I think we should be able to maintain at least 2% of volume growth going forward. I think additionally, new product contribution, we expect a higher share from the new product introduction is what we had communicated.
Price part, with whether it will be similar to what we have seen in the prior quarters, et cetera, or there could be some change?
No, I would think so. It should be around the same number for the next year as well, because we've already implemented the price increases for 2023-2024. It should be around the same number.
Okay. Another question is, now you have launched a consumer platform for India business, which you spoke earlier. My question was, few quarters back, you launched trade generic business also, right? What is the status of that? Now, like, if you look at India bucket, what are your priorities in the RX part and then the consumer part, and then maybe trade generic? If you can talk about priorities in three buckets.
Oh, absolutely. I think as far as the base business is concerned, it's basically following what the market growth is all about, right? I mean, as for the historical performance, we try and beat the market by at least 200 basis points. That's something which would continue. What we also expect is at least some of the new products which we have launched over the last 2 years has really done well for us, and therefore, at least for the next 1 or 2 years, the contribution from these products should inch up a little bit more, I would say. That's an incremental growth which we see. We've carried out expansion of vehicles across many of our divisions.
That should start playing out now, maybe in two quarters' time. That should bring us some incremental growth, is what we believe as far as the base business is concerned. I think as far as CHC is concerned, it's too early for me to comment on this at this point in time. All that I can say is that there's a pilot which we have done in four states for Shelcal, and probably we are thinking of going pan-India for this particular product in 2023, 2024. The initial response we see is quite positive and encouraging, I would say. Quarter one of this year is also looking positive in whatever initiatives we've taken as far as the CHC platform is concerned.
Trade generic perspective, yes, I think that segment is small today, but again, parallelly growing along with the branded generic piece, I would say. Not very large to talk about, but growing nicely, I would say.
Say like 3-4 years from now, RX will still be like a major part of your business, right? These two will be, I'll say, growing, but still smaller segment.
Oh, absolutely. I think at least for the foreseeable future, that is how it should be.
Okay, my last question is, your outlook for Germany. You mentioned about new tender wins, et cetera. Should we look at current quarter sales as a new base, INR 250-260 crores number?
In rupees, it's difficult, but in terms of euros, so I would say that, you know, the EUR 28 million to EUR 29 million per quarter seems to be the base for the foreseeable future until new wins or losses kick in, down the lane, down the line.
Okay. If I just clarify, these tenders open up, like, every year, or, like, how does a tender cycle work where you intend to participate?
There's about 50-75 tenders, and they have a rolling opening and closing. There are tenders which happen every quarter, and the duration of each tender is two years. Once you win or lose, you are in or out for two-year duration, but it's happening all the time. There's a lot of insurance companies, and each insurance company has multiple tenders.
Okay, thank you. I'll get back in the queue.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Neha Manpuria from Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for taking my question. The first on the consumer healthcare platform business, have we earmarked as to how much we want to spend on, you know, sort of growing that business, given we want to, you know, take advertisement pan-India, we are planning to launch more products? What kind of spend do we think we can have in the consumer business?
No, absolutely. We've worked out a budget. I don't know at this point whether I can communicate that to you. What I can tell you is, at least for the next two quarters, the spend would be similar to what we have done in quarter four of this year.
Okay. It's not much. As we go pan-India, launch more products, it's fair to assume that the spend increases through the course of the year.
Depending upon the outcome of what we do, at least, for the next two quarters.
Okay, got it. In that case, you know, for the margins, given Curatio synergies have come through in this quarter, you know, while there is operating leverage in India, how should we look at margin trajectory for the next year?
Neha, I think I would wait for quarter one to get reported to actually provide you a guidance. As of now, as I see, there's nothing which can, I would say, derail the existing margin which we have in quarter four. I would wait for quarter one to come in to provide a full clarity on how the full year would look like.
Is it fair to assume that with the Curatio synergies that you're still talking about, you know, the consumer platform spend remaining the same, hopefully, you know, our remediation costs for the U.S. going away, there is scope for margin improvement next year, or you would say, you know, you'd probably see one more quarter before you guide that?
No, no, definitely there are margin improvement levers. I didn't say that.
Okay.
The only point I'm trying to make is let's wait for quarter one to be reported so that directionally it becomes very clear where we are headed for the full year.
Understood. Last on the U.S. business, you know, historically, we had mentioned that we are evaluating now with, you know, the Dahej inspection done. You know, when we say profitable growth with niche launches, you know, does this mean, you know, we would scale down the business further from here, you know, or is it in the green or at least in the black, and therefore, it's not burning money, and we don't need to do too much to the U.S. and keep it at the current run rate?
I think our strategy for the US is firstly to stop the bleeding, which we think we will be successful in doing it through a combination of, you know, various initiatives, including cost reduction, outsourcing, discontinuations. There's a complete effort to evaluate each SKU and to figure out what makes sense to keep manufacturing in-house, what makes sense to take it outside, and what makes sense to reduce, or are there any levers to reduce costs. That exercise has been undertaken and will be an ongoing exercise. In terms of new launches from our own plants, as I mentioned earlier, they're still 6, 9 months away. We have in-license portfolio. This year we would be launching 3 to 4 in-license products.
We've already, I mean, launched some niche products, let's see what kind of traction that they take. We will be launching our onco portfolio. I would say the idea in the US is to firstly, keep the focus on the bottom line and keep the focus on launching new niche products from internal plants and more commoditized products from third parties or from partners. That is the way forward. I think in terms of top line, it will give what it will give. You know, it's hard to kind of project a top line for the US and to tell you where we would be.
Definitely, I would say, you know, the minimum threshold is, in broad terms, in the area where we are, and I see us essentially progressing from here, provided, of course, we get the new launches.
Understood. What I was trying to understand, Sanjay, is we don't need to, let's say, rationalize our portfolio to, you know, at least stop the bleeding from the business, right? That part of it is done. Large part of it.
Correct, correct.
would now come from cost reduction and all of that.
Correct. Correct. Correct. The portfolio strategy is clear. We've already outsourced some products, we've discontinued others, and this will be an ongoing exercise because as the price erosion happens, you need to revisit, right? You cannot just stay stagnant.
Correct. Correct.
The idea is not to... We don't need any more CapEx for the US business. It's all done. The plants have the capacity. And the R&D expenses have already been scaled down. We, you know, we basically did five ANDAs each year in the last way, last 12 months and then five before that. On the part of resource allocation, reorientation has already been done. I would say that, you know, we will continue to find new opportunities in the US and to do opportunistic new products, business development deals, and onco products will be launched globally. If it works in the US, fine. If it doesn't, we would recover our costs and make money in other parts of the world.
Understood. Thank you so much.
Thank you. We have the next question from the line of Bino Pathiparampil from InCred Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Just a clarification on lenalidomide. If I heard rightly, you said, you are set to launch with the third wave of launches. As far as I understand, already we have seen three waves. One was in last March, then in September, and again in this March. I believe there is a fourth round of launches happening in September, October this year. Are you alluding to that September, October wave?
No, later than that.
Later. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Cyndrella Carvalho from JM Financial. Please go ahead. Cyndrella, the line for you has been unmuted. You may proceed with your question.
Yeah. Am I audible?
Yes, you are.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. Just to understand, the consumer health business is like the objective, could you help us understand? Because at this point in time, you said you have only 1 product, and you would evaluate adding 5, 6 more products to this. Can you help us understand the objective? Is it because you want to focus more on the Indian market and given that our U.S. business remains at this current stage, the idea is to go deeper in India, and that's why we are evaluating this? Your thought process would be helpful.
No, I think we've been thinking of this since long, I would say. The first thing what we've done is we thought of taking Shelcal as a product to OTC, and that's typically because the new products under the Shelcal brand, which is Shelcal XT, has been reasonably doing quite well in the prescription segment, I would say. Shelcal 500, which is the biggest brand within the Shelcal brand, I would say, is now being taken to the OTC platform for getting higher growth. Because I think the major share of Shelcal 500 has been taken by Shelcal XT.
There is an opportunity for us to really expand the Shelcal 500 franchise, right? That's something which we have been thinking since long, and we have done that in quarter four now. As I said, you know, did a pilot thing in 4 states and would be expanding pan-India during 2023-2024. With this, I think, we are already seeing positive signs in the initiative which we have taken for Shelcal 500, and there are total 5 brands, I mean, 5 products, which we have identified as part of the CHC platform.
As I said, that will come, start coming, maybe 2 quarters down the line once we see positive sign on whatever we do with Shelcal brand. That's the current thinking, I would say. I think to really talk about how this is going to look at over a 3-year period or a 5-year period, it would be a little early for us to really guide you on that. I would say the correct time would be maybe 3 quarters down the line when we get a sense of how this initiative is doing, we'll start talking more about it and give you more clarity on what we are thinking about on this platform over a period of 3 to 5 years, I would say.
Would it be considered easier to move to a OTC platform in India? You think that is getting easier route nowadays, or it's still taking time for taking products to the OTC side?
Well, as I said, as long as you are able to generate good growth from the prescription segment, why would you get into OTC, right? I think basically it's very important for you to establish a brand in the prescription segment, which has an endorsement by the doctor, right? I mean, larger the brand you make, there's already an endorsement by the doctor, which then you start thinking of taking it to OTC for getting a better access, I would say, and making the brand bigger. That's, that's something which we thought and started off with Shelcal, I would say.
Any update on Indrad? like, after the OAI, have we interacted with the agency, and what's the update there?
Yeah. Essentially, we've already had the regulatory meeting with the agency, we are, you know, expecting the agency to have another inspection of Indrad down the line. Until then, we expect the status quo to continue.
Just one more, from the Dahej point of view, you highlighted that 9 months, kind of 6-9 months time wait. This seems like, you know, at least Dahej will be opening up again for US. FY25, we should be able to see a decent number of launches. You already divided the products in 3 buckets.
Yeah.
I heard you. I'm just saying from a FY 25 perspective, should we keep now U.S. market coming back?
Yeah, I think there's just one caveat I would add. Bucket number one, which is products with remaining economic value, and bucket number three, which were products which were anyway scheduled to be launched after 25. Those would be, we would be bringing on to the market, subject to a revalidation of the market at that point in time, right? As to what the economics looks like. As of today, I can tell you that, you know, there's at least, you know, high single-digit number of products that we should launch. I really don't know where those products will be, you know, in 12 months down the line, what the economics would look like. We would reevaluate, yeah, technically, the door would be open.
Okay. Sorry, one small clarification.
Yeah.
FY 25 launch?
Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. Thank you so much, and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Kunal R from Nuvama Group. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening. My question is around the sales force productivity. In the longer run, do you believe that Curatio sales force could generate the same kind of productivity as your own sales force?
Yeah, absolutely. I think that's the objective.
In that case, let me rephrase my question in a different way. You've added 1,000 people of your own this year. Curatio would have added 600 more, and Curatio's productivity would be somewhere around INR 4 lakhs, I believe, right? Yet you have maintained to 9% kind of margin. Without adding a single person, if I were to just, you know, add maybe a INR 9, INR 9.5 lakhs that you used to do earlier, it seems there's a huge runway for, you know, domestic growth, top line, but as well as margin. Is it too simplistic a calculation, or is my understanding correct here?
I didn't get your question clearly.
Okay. Last year you had around 3,900 people, right? You generated somewhere around INR 4,300 crores kind of revenue, and your productivity was somewhere around over INR 9 lakhs last year, right?
I think it was, yes.
Now it would have come off, right? You would have added 1,000 more people of your own and 600 from Curatio. Is that right?
Yeah, that's right.
Right. Your productivity would have now fallen maybe below, you know, around INR 7.5 lakhs or so.
Right.
So if I were to assume-
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. If I were to assume that you go back to your historical levels of INR 9 lakhs, since the new sales force would still be sort of, you know, yet to contribute to those, your historical, you know, run rate. It seems there is a huge runway for growth in the domestic business, as well as, you know, at 29% of margins, there should be still some more upside in the next 2 to 3 years.
No, absolutely.
Is that my understanding?
Yeah, yeah, it's a correct-.
I think.
... It's a fair, it's a fair understanding, I would say. You're right, actually, the productivity has fallen down one notch, I would say, based on the expansion and Curatio new people getting added. Curatio PCPM being very low, I would say, compared to our base business. I agree with you, I mean, that's the way to look at it. I mean, having a double-digit growth from here for the next, maybe three to four years, should improve the productivity and improve the margin, no?
Right.
That's one of the lever I've been talking about as far as the branded business, more specifically, India business is concerned, where the productivity improvement improves your overall margins.
Maybe if I were to sort of do a crystal ball giving, any kind of margin you would like to give, let's say, like three years down the line, that you'll be comfortable to give at this stage?
No, we don't give any guidance. All that I try to say is that the branded generic business today for us is 70% plus of our total revenue base. There are two important levers which play out every year for us in terms of margin improvement. One is the price increases, which are quite similar, I would say, across all the markets we take. The second is the operating leverage playing out. I think both put together on a long-term basis, I'm saying, there is a margin improvement potential of maybe 60 basis to 100 basis point year-on-year.
Got it. Got it. Thanks a lot, and all the best.
Yeah.
Thank you. We have the next question from the line of Akash Agarwal from Axis Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, this is Prakash again. I just want clarification. Curatio margins last year were around 25, 28%. When you mention it has increased 400 to 500 basis points, it has crossed the company level, but it is still to touch the domestic level. Is that understanding correct?
Correct, Prakash. Yeah, it's above the overall company EBITDA number, I would say, yeah.
Okay. There's a catch-up to do till the domestic business margins?
Absolutely. Now, since the integration has happened, it'll happen, I think at the earliest, I would say, yeah.
Okay. The second one was on the price hike. The price hike impact comes late Q1, or it has already started to come in Q1?
Yeah, it happens in Q1, I would say. Maybe by May or June. It depends on the products inventory which we have at the point of taking price increases. Generally, we see a substantial part of it starts flowing from May and June, yeah.
Okay. Why that cautious or conservative outlook on margins? We are already on an adjusted basis, 29.5%. Curatio inching up and price hikes should take the margins to 30%+ for sure. Why you want to see one quarter? I mean, what are we missing here? Anything to be cautious of?
No, nothing, Prakash. I'm not giving any guidance on the margins for next year. What I'm trying to say is that, since there are new initiatives which have been taken, I just want to see what margins we achieve in quarter one, which could be directional. At this point, I mean, it would not be correct for me to give you any guidance for the next year.
Okay. You mentioned Q4 expenses already account for the consumer business, which is similar, which you expect similar quarters expenses in the following quarters.
For the next 2 quarters, at least, yeah.
Okay, okay. And just one more guidance on or understanding on the, you know, the two databases show divergent, you know, growth trends. AIOCD is showing a, you know, flattish April data, whereas IQVIA is showing a 10% growth. I mean, if you could just help us understand how is the growth trend being?
Let me come back to you on this, Prakash, maybe properly analyzing it and then commenting on it.
Okay. Lastly, on the, you know, debt reduction plan, what is the expectation for debt reduction for this year? There's a fundraising resolution, if you could clarify, enabling resolution. Are you still looking out for assets?
No, no. I think it's an enabling resolution, which we take every year during the same time. Right? Just to have a preparedness in case there's some opportunities. Nothing on hand so far. It's, it's a continuing thing, which we do every year, so nothing. I think on the leverage, I think today, 31st March, we are at roughly 1.55x of net debt to EBITDA. End of FY24, we should be less than 1, I would say.
About INR 1,000 crore-INR 1,200 crore only?
Correct, correct.
Okay. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Madhav Marda from Fidelity International. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening. Just had one question. When we guided for about similar price hike as last year, which is about 6-7%, does this come from taking price hikes on the base portfolio? Are some of the newer products priced higher versus the base portfolio, so overall sort of price movement is positive? Just wanted to understand that.
No, no. The price increase, when we say 7%, we say whichever product is existing on the date when you take a price increase, so that becomes a basket for you. Therefore, on an overall basis, 7% is the price impact, which is going to come. The new products, which are getting launched later on, will have its own price, depending upon the competition intensity which is there.
Generally, Torrent seems to be at the higher end of the curve when it comes to taking price hikes. Is that just a function of chronic portfolio or the kind of brands that we have? Is that the right way to think, or is there some other factor?
Yeah, all that I can tell you is that if you look at my covered market, you'll generally find the market also taking similar kind of pricing.
Okay. Okay, got it. Okay, thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mitesh Shah from Nirmal Bang Securities. Please go ahead.
Thanks for taking my question. I just have one question on the consumer business. We past also started consumer business with the Unienzyme, and we closed down that. Just recollect that what went wrong and what we are doing differently this time?
Yeah. You're right, I mean, so Unienzyme was an acquired brand from Unichem, right? Which was under OTC.
Right.
When it came to us, I think what we felt is that it's very important, that you have better doctor endorsement on these kind of brands, before you take it to OTC. Therefore, we had taken Unienzyme to prescription platform, compared to the OTC platform, which it had in the hands of Unichem. Now.
Got it. Yeah. Continue.
I'm saying now, since the brand has reached a reasonable size, we feel this is the right time to now get into OTC.
The also, Curatio is one of the key reasons that we are looking to the consumer brand now, that we can be, do the same platform for Curatio and the other OTC product, or would be a different market altogether?
I would say Curatio help enable us to create a bigger portfolio under CHC. As I said, even without Curatio, we already had plans to look at the CHC on some of our products.
Got it. Thanks. That's it from my end.
Thank you. Participants who wish to ask questions may please press star and one at this time. As there are no further questions, I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Executive Director of International Business, for closing comments. Over to you, sir.
I would just like to thank all of you for participating in today's call. Thank you very much, and wish you a good evening. Bye-bye.
Thank you. On behalf of Torrent Pharma Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.