Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to JB Pharma's Q3 FY26 earnings conference call as of 19th January 2026. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Jason D'Souza, Executive Vice President at JB Pharma. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. D'souza.
Thank you, Ranju. Welcome to the earnings call of JB Pharma. We have with us today Nikhil Chopra, CEO and whole-time director; Mr. Kunal Khanna, President of Operations; Narayan Saraf, the CFO at JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals. Before we begin, I would like to state that some of the statements in today's discussion may be forward-looking in nature and may involve certain risks and uncertainties. A detailed statement in this regard is available in the results presentation that has been sent to you earlier. I would like to hand over the floor to Mr. Nikhil Chopra to begin the proceedings of the call and for his opening remarks.
Jason, thank you. I would like to welcome everyone today on the call to discuss JB Pharma's performance for Q3 FY26. Friends, once again, we have performed well, with top-line revenues growing at 11% to INR 1065 crores. Our operating EBITDA, excluding non-cash, is of 305 crores, up 13%, whereas net profit came in at 198 crores, growing at 22% over the previous year. Gross margins during the quarter three rose by 200 basis points to 69.1% as compared to 67.1% last year. This is on the back of attractive product mix, price improvement realized, and stable raw material cost. The operating EBITDA margin stood at 28.7%, higher by 60 basis points year-on-year, given our consistent thrust on driving profitability. Let me now draw your attention to the detailed discussion beginning with the domestic business. Our domestic business showed 10% growth year-on-year to 620 crores.
As per IQVIA December MAT data, JB remains the fastest-growing company within the top 25 names in the Indian pharma market. All our major brands have continued to deliver and have posted strong growth. Six brands now feature in the top 300 brands in the Indian pharma market. I would like to underline that we have maintained momentum as one of the fastest-growing pharma companies in the country over the past several years. The domestic business franchise now has a strong foundation which will help the business continue to grow in the future above the Indian pharma market growth. Turning to international operations, quarter three FY26 saw 12% growth year-on-year to INR 445 crores. Our international operation growth was driven by international pharmaceutical businesses, which saw a revenue of INR 306 crores, up 20% year-on-year, given the strong performance in Russia, South Africa, U.S., and other branded export markets.
The CDMO business has sustained its momentum and once again performed well in quarter three FY26, despite a high base in quarter three FY25. Our focus on cost optimization, favorable product mix, and operation efficiencies led to improved operating margins for the quarter FY26 as well as for the nine-month FY26. JB Pharma continues to pursue growth with conviction, driving revenue expansion with a sharper focus on efficiency and organizational agility. Our sustained investments in the domestic business and CDMO platform remain central to realizing consistent growth while protecting margins. Supported by a strong balance sheet and an execution-driven culture, we are well-positioned to adapt to evolving market conditions and advance confidently into the company's next stage of strategic development. I would now like to urge Mr. Narayan, our CFO, to continue with the views on the financial performance. Over to you, Narayan. Thank you.
Thank you, Nikhil. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to JB Pharma's Q3 FY26 earnings call. Now, to take you through the financial updates for the third quarter, revenues for the quarter were at a peak of INR 1,065 crores, representing an increase of 11% year-on-year. The domestic business-to-international business mix was 58% to 42%. In domestic business, the domestic formulation business segment reported revenues of INR 620 crores, with a 10% year-on-year growth. As per IQVIA MAT December 2025 data within the IPM, the company outperformed with a growth of 12% versus the IPM growth of 9%. In this segment, the company's franchise results saw a growth of 11% year-on-year, with revenue at INR 108 crores. In international business, the international business segment grew by 12% year-on-year, with revenues at INR 445 crores.
The international formulations witnessed a robust growth of 20% year-on-year to INR 306 crores, owing to the strong performance of the export business of South Africa, Russia, USA, and branded exports markets. The CDMO category remained nearly flat at INR 117 crores for quarter three FY26. That being said, sales momentum during the quarter was sustained despite a higher base of the previous year and is expected to continue on in Q4 FY26. The revenues from API category were at INR 21 crores for quarter three FY26. Gross profit margins expanded 200 basis points year-on-year at 69.1%, increasing on the back of a better product mix, stable RM prices, and positive price growth. Operating EBITDA, which is excluding the ESOP cost, was at INR 305 crores, a growing 13% year-on-year. Margins expanded year-on-year at 28.7% versus 28.1% in quarter three FY25.
During the quarter, other income increased to INR 18 crores as against INR 8 crores in quarter three FY25 due to treasury income. Depreciation increased to INR 41 crores versus INR 42 crores in quarter three FY25. Net profit increased by 22% year-on-year at INR 198 crores. We reiterate our guidance for operating margins between 27% to 29% for FY26. That brings me to the end of my opening remarks. I now request the moderator to open the forum for the Q&A session. Thank you very much.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on your touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and 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 comes from the line of Sumit Gupta from Antique. Please go ahead.
Hello. Am I audible?
Yes.
Thank you for the opportunity, sir. So first question is on the domestic side. What kind of price hikes we have taken for this quarter?
Sorry, could you repeat the question, please?
Price hikes in the domestic business for this quarter?
So if you really look at our numbers, we try to maximize the price hike. Our price hike generally for the quarter is close to 7%.
Okay. And with respect to the guidance, like you guys provide, 12%-14% kind of growth for the domestic market. However, if you see this quarter, the growth has been kind of 9%-10%, 9.5%. So do you still maintain this 12%-14%, or should we be writing down to around 10%-11%?
Yes, Sumit. If you look at our growth over nine months for India business, which is close to around 11%-12%, our guidance continues to be growing better than the market, 200-300 bips, which is in line to where we stand today, and that is how we'll happen by the end of the year also.
Okay. So basically, you are expecting 620-630 kind of growth, INR 630 crore kind of revenue for domestic to continue to be continuing?
So what we were talking about was our growth with respect to market. If you really look at it from a quarterly perspective, March generally is a soft month for all Indian pharmaceutical companies for domestic market situation because of the inventory closing from the distributor's end. So that quarterly run rate can be impacted because of natural March phenomena, but overall, our growth will be higher than the industry.
Sure. Secondly, on the margins, your margins have increased even though the growth has been kind of normal, slower than normal. What is that improvement in margins?
Sorry, your voice is not clear.
Sumit, we can't hear you well.
Mr. Gupta, sorry for interfering.
Hello?
Please come next to the mic and speak.
Yes, this is fine.
Come in the range. Yeah, this is better. Thank you. Please go ahead.
Okay. Yeah. So basically, to understand on the margin side, so apart from the domestic performance, what has led to improvement in the margin, overall performance in the margin?
So overall, if you look at the product mix, which is a combination of what we have done in India business, which our chronic portfolio contributing on the higher side, and our international business mix of CDMO business and what business we have done in some of the geographies, that has led to better gross margins for the quarter.
Right, so we can expect this to continue, and in the international side also, your South Africa and other geographies are doing well.
As we see quarter four, the guidance would be that we have a good order book for quarter four, and our gross margin should range between 60%-69% by the end of the year.
Okay. Understood. All the best.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Pranik Parikh with Shree Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, good afternoon, and congratulations on a good set of numbers. I have two questions. One about the dividend policy. Is there any change in the dividend policy? There is no announcement of any interim dividend this time.
Yeah. So interim dividend, we have not announced yet. However, once the right time opportunity comes, we will inform and update you about the dividends.
This question was in the context of our regular announcement of interim dividend with the second, I mean, the December results, which usually for the last five years, it has been regularly announced. So if there is any change.
The control situation, it will happen over time, and we'll update you once we take the decision.
All right. Secondly, about this pending merger with Torrent, any guidance on the timeline?
It's a work in progress, and it's progressing at its normal speed, and we'll keep on updating as and when we have got any fresh developments.
So presently, what is the likely, I'm sorry if you have mentioned it in earlier calls, but just to confirm, what is the guidance on by when this is likely to be completed? Any understanding?
So it may happen sometime in quarter four.
All right. Fine. Thank you so very much, and all the best.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Ananya Khanna with Alpha Alternatives. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Am I audible?
Yes. Yeah.
Yeah. First of all, congratulations on a good set of results, sir. So my question to you is, when do you expect the merger with JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals to be completed? Can you give us a rough timeline? And also, can you shed some light on the synergies being created with the merger?
Sorry, I could not hear your last line, Ananya. Your voice was cracking. Hello?
Hello, Ananya. Can you repeat?
Ms. Khanna, please.
I'm sorry.
Yep. Your voice was breaking. Can you just repeat the question once again? Thank you.
Yeah, sure. So can you give us a rough estimate as to when the merger can be completed, the merger with JB Chemicals? And can you give us a rough timeline for the same and also shed some light on the possible synergies that can be created via the merger?
So Ananya, first of all, this call is more to talk about the performance for the quarter. But as Narayan told to the previous call in the previous question, this is work in progress. And as and when we get more visibility, we'll be happy to share. But it will happen sometime in quarter four.
Okay.
Yeah.
The merger requires, yeah. So the closure is expected in quarter four, and the merger can happen anytime, six to nine months from there on. That's the way to really look at the situation. At this stage, we can only.
All right.
Yes.
Can you shed some light on the possible synergies that can be created via the merger?
We would not like to comment on any of the synergy situation as of now.
All right. All right. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Abdul Qadir Puranwala with ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity, and congratulations on the set of numbers. So my first question is, pertaining to your CDMO business, so I understand there was a high base effect for FY27. How should we look at the revenue run-rate for this particular segment? And if you could also help us understand the utilization of the CDMO plant, at what levels are they currently?
CDMO, what we shared earlier, that this quarter was a base effect, but our run rate for the quarter, for every quarter, continues to be around INR 115-120 crores for this year, and you should expect us to grow at around 10%-12% for FY27.
Understood. And my next question is for Saraf, sir. So in this quarter, have we seen any impact coming from the new labor law code, or are we still in the process of evaluating the impact?
No. Not very significant. We have taken the necessary impacts in our P&L, and it was not something substantial enough.
Got it. Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Bino Pathiparampil with Elara Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good afternoon. Just to follow up on the merger question earlier, so you said the deal will close in Q4 and then another six to nine months for the merger. Is that correct?
Yes. Yes. Yeah.
Okay. So what is the why such a delay between deal closure and merger, six to nine months?
See.
So I think that's all we'll be able to share, I think, on this call. As you said, that's all that we'll be able to share on this call. We won't be able to.
Quarterly performance.
If you can focus on the performance, that will be more apt.
Understood. Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Naman Baghrecha with IIFL Capital Services Limited. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Yeah. Go ahead, Naman.
Hello. Yes, sir, so can you elaborate on the growth ex formulations business that we saw this quarter?
Mr. Baghrecha, sorry for interrupting. Your sound is not clear. Can you come a little closer to the mic and speak?
Sure.
Can you explain or elaborate more on the export formulation business growth that we saw for this quarter, and how should one look at next month to two years to the quarter?
So, Naman, for the quarter, as I think earlier guided, quarter three and quarter four, we had a good order book, which was shared in quarter two commentary. So that is how the quarter three has performed for the international markets, and that is backed up by good performance in our both subsidiaries, South Africa and Russia. Also, our export branded business has also done well. That is where we stand. And what we guide for the year is we should grow at high single digit by the end of the year, and that is what we had shared in our quarter two commentary in the investor call.
Thanks. And so on the India business front, while for the first nine months we have grown in double digits, but within the last two quarters, if you want to say the growth has been, let's say, around 9%-9.5%. Any particular, let's say, slowdown that you are seeing in our portfolio or in system market down?
No. So no real concern with the overall growth for domestic business. Our chronic portfolio has done exceedingly well. And the 1%, 1.5% difference which you are seeing, instead of that 11%-12% being closer to 10%, is largely attributed to some slowdown for our acute business, more specifically the gastro portfolio. Apart from that, if you really look at the numbers of all our key brands and compare that with IPM, we have done exceedingly well. Just to give some numbers, Cilacar has grown at 25% plus, Cilacar T at almost 33%, Nicardia has grown at almost 30%, Sporlac franchise showing a growth of 13%. So all our big franchises have done well. It's essentially some slowdown of the acute gastro, which is showing the difference.
Okay. Thanks. Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question comes from the line of Akshay Ashinde with SMIFS Limited. Please go ahead.
Yes. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for the opportunity. Just to follow up on our export formulation business, can you give more detail on how the international markets are performing, like the growth is driven by the volume or the price hike there also? That's it from my side.
So we had a good demand in our both subsidiaries in terms of volume, particularly in South Africa and Russia for the quarter. And that is what we are looking forward to in quarter four also. And our business, if you look at our quarter two performance for branded generics, we were flat. But this quarter, as earlier also shared, we had a good order book so that we could execute for quarter three. And equally, I'm sharing at this moment of time that in quarter four also, for quarter four also, we have a good order book where we should see double-digit growth for the quarter, but for the year, we should grow at high single digit.
Understood. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Jason D'souza. Please go ahead.
No, no. No, I'll just take some questions which have come on the wall. So first question is on the ophthalmology business. It seems to be that the business is just 10%. Any guidance on that?
I think we'll see double-digit growth in ophthalmology portfolio as well. Our chronic and glaucoma portfolio has done well. Some bit of slowdown is again attributed to the acute products. But otherwise, we are well poised to reach our aspirations of having a consistent INR 17-18 crore per month run rate for this portfolio in the next three to four months.
The other question is, which is there on the FY Q4 performance, any guidance on how the Q4 FY26 performance will be there?
So, quarter four, as what we have earlier shared, is India business should grow two to 300 basis points better than the market. And international business, as we have good order book, we should show the same performance as what we have demonstrated for quarter three, which by the end of the year should grow at high single digit. So we'll be, as per what guidance we have been giving in terms of both our businesses, India as well as international market, will plus minus show the same performance as what we have delivered in quarter three. And margin is close to around 28%.
Another question is, assuming, as we said, that the transaction gets closed in Q4, anything on the ESOP charge that we would like to mention?
So assuming if the change of control event happens in quarter four, then we are clearly looking at around INR 40 crores of ESOP charge whatever is balanced leftover to be charged in the quarter four.
Great. And the last question, which is there in the significant increase in other income to 18 crores, anything that you would like to highlight?
So, it's basically because of the simple reason that since we have repaid all our debts, we had some opening debts in last year. And now we have repaid all our debts, and we have a surplus cash which we are investing as per our treasury policy, and that's resulting into higher treasury income.
Great. That's it from my side. Over to you, Moderator.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. We have reached the end of question and answer session. I would now like to hand the conference over to Nikhil for closing comments.
Thank you all for showing all the interest in JB Pharma's performance for the first nine months of the year. And the guidance that we want to give for the current year is we'll continue to outperform the market in India business. All our big brands will only get bigger driven by volume growth, particularly showing good performance in the chronic space. Equally, in the international market, we have bounced back in quarter three, and that momentum will continue in quarter four, backed up by our subsidiaries doing better, South Africa, Russia, as well as international branded businesses also show double-digit growth for the quarter. And we should end the year for our international business at high single digit growth. And we'll continue to maintain our EBITDA margins for the year close to 20%-29%.
That is in accord to the guidance that we have given to all of you in our previous investor calls. Thank you all.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of JB Pharma, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.