Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Ajanta Pharma Q1 FY 2027 earnings conference call. 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 this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Yogesh Agrawal, Managing Director of Ajanta Pharma Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Ajanta Pharma's earnings call. With me, I have Mr. Rajesh Agrawal, our Joint Managing Director, Mr. Arvind Agrawal, our CFO, Mr. Rajeev Agarwal, our Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations. I hope all of you have received the financial results by now. I am pleased to announce that the board of directors has approved interim dividend of INR 32 per share on a face value of INR 2 per share, amounting to a total dividend payout of about INR 400 crore. For the overall business, we have begun the new financial year on a strong note, with revenue from operations growing by 25% and profit after tax growing by 31%. We remain focused on delivering our growth momentum of high teens for the whole year.
Our financial position has continued to strengthen with return on capital employed at 37% and return on net worth at 28% as at end of June 2026. These robust returns reaffirm our position amongst the industry's leading performer. Let me take you through our key business verticals, starting with the branded generic business in Asia and Africa, which contributed 34% to the total revenue. Our continued investment in people, products, and markets are ensuring consistent growth. I begin with Asia. In Q1, our Asia branded generic business reported sales of INR 225 crore, compared with INR 304 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, representing a decline of 16%. While we had anticipated a recovery during the quarter, continued geopolitical developments in the Middle East caused supply chain disruptions and affected the dispatches.
We are actively working on alternate routes to ensure uninterrupted supplies to the region. We also launched three new products in the region and are confident that the growth momentum will be back in coming quarters. Moving to Africa. In Q1, our Africa-branded generic business delivered a strong performance, with sales increasing by 30% to INR 295 crore, compared with INR 228 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. During the quarter, we also launched three new products, further supporting our continued expansion across the region. As can be seen, our conscious call to keep the business well-diversified across markets enables us to keep performing and delivering growth in spite of challenges. Let me now turn to the other two verticals within our international business.
U.S. generic business contributed 30% to our total revenue during the quarter, with sales growing by 57% to INR 487 crore, compared with INR 310 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The strong performance was supported by two product launches during the quarter. For the full year, we remain with our guidance of mid-single-digit growth. Moving to institution business. The Africa institutional business contributed around 4% to the company's total revenue and was in line with our expectation in Q1. Sales in current quarter stood at INR 49 crore compared to INR 28 crore in the previous year, delivering a healthy growth of 71%. I invite Mr. Rajesh Agrawal, our Joint Managing Director, to brief you on India business. Thank you, and over to you.
Thank you. Good afternoon to all of you. The new financial year has begun on a strong note for our India business. The investments made over the past two years in expanding our field force and entering new therapeutic areas have started yielding results, contributing to an excellent performance during this quarter. According to IQVIA MAT June 2026 data, Ajanta continued to outperform the IPM, growing by 15% compared to market growth of 11%. Our volume growth was 40% higher than the IPM, while growth from the new product launches exceeded the market by 75%. This outperformance was broad-based across most of the therapeutic segments in which we operate, with our growth consistently exceeding the respective segment averages. We remain confident of sustaining this momentum during the rest of the year.
Within our covered market, we are placed among the top 10 across all our core therapeutic segments. cardiology contributed 37% of our India branded sales, followed by ophthalmology at 29%, dermatology at 22%, and pain management at 10%. New therapeutic areas accounted for the remaining 2%. In Q1, the India business contributed 32% of the company's total revenue. Sales grew by a healthy 24% to INR 509 crores, compared with INR 409 crores in the corresponding quarter last year. This performance was supported by eight new product launches during the quarter. The India business also includes our trade generic segment, which contributed INR 48 crores during the quarter, compared with INR 39 crores in the corresponding period last year. I invite Mr. Arvind Agrawal, our CFO, to take you through the financial performance.
Thank you, and over to you.
Thank you. Good afternoon to all. Before we begin, I would like to mention that during this call, we may make certain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. The company does not undertake any obligation to update these statements publicly. I will now take you through the consolidated financial performance for current year Q1. Revenue. Total revenue for the quarter grew by a healthy 25% to INR 1,626 crores, compared with INR 1,303 crores in the corresponding quarter last year. This is an affirmation of our diversified business model supporting consistent growth even in part of the territories. Gross margin stood at 80% for the quarter, improving by approximately 100 basis points over Q4 FY 2026, primarily due to healthy margins from all geographies.
For the full year, we expect gross margins to remain around 78%, with a variation of ±100 basis points. Personnel cost. Personnel cost stood at INR 381 crores compared to INR 303 crores in the corresponding quarter last year, representing an increase of 26%. This increase was mainly attributable to annual increment during the quarter and addition done in the previous year. The R&D spend expenditure, which is included within personnel cost and other expenses, stood at INR 66 crores, compared with INR 56 crores in the corresponding quarter last year. This represented approximately 4% of total revenue. For the full year, we expect R&D expenditure to be around 5% of revenue. Other expenses. Other expenses stood at INR 493 crores, compared with INR 373 crores in the corresponding quarter last year, representing an increase of 32%.
The growth in expenses is just 11% for the sequential quarter of Q4 FY 2026. The increase in expenses also reflects our continued strategic investment in products, brands, and people across the branded generic portfolio. We expect other expenses to remain broadly aligned with the current trend. Coming to EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA, excluding the foreign exchange loss for the quarter, grew by 21% to INR 454 crores, compared with INR 371 crores in the corresponding quarter last year, with margin standing at 28%. During the quarter, we recorded a foreign exchange loss of INR 31 crores under other expenses and a foreign exchange gain of INR 50 crores under other income. We remain confident of maintaining an EBITDA margin of around 27%, with a variation of ±100 basis points, while continuing to invest in the development of our market.
Profit after tax grew by 31% to INR 334 crores, compared with INR 255 crores in the corresponding quarter last year. The effective tax rate for the quarter stood at 25% and is expected to be around 26% for the full year. Capital expenditure during the quarter stood at INR 83 crores. For FY 2027, we expect capital expenditure to be around INR 400 crores. With this, we now open the floor for question and answer. Thank you.
Thank you, sir. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on your touchtone telephone. If you wish to withdraw yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handset 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 Tushar Manudhane with Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity and congratulations on good set of numbers. Just on India business, some sort of misalignment or disconnect between the IQVIA growth rate and the reported growth rate, which generally has sort of aligned. Is there anything specific for this quarter that you could highlight?
Basically, the growth rates which you are seeing are for the three months, if you really see, because it is a MAT number which comes from India IQVIA. If you take the market three months and APL three months, I think we are at about 18% in India.
Right. We have grown 25% for the quarter.
Yes. That much difference will always be there between the IQVIA and internal numbers, but otherwise, absolutely in line. Earlier, it is something which is a little far. If you see the MAT, it is just 15%, whereas for the quarter, if you see, it is 18%.
Got it. Secondly, for branded Africa business, the growth rate has been very strong even in this quarter, and we're sort of just touching INR 300 crore, the branded business. What's the outlook for this segment now in terms of growth from here on?
The outlook is quite positive. We've got a good momentum. Last year also, we delivered a very healthy growth. Current year also, we had already guided to be a high double-digit growth, and the year has started really well for us. We are expecting the momentum to continue for the rest of the year. I think we should post a very healthy growth in Africa for the whole year.
Similarly, sir, Asia, are we now sort of given this uneven situation, so how to think about the, let's say, either the sales run rate or growth in the Asia business?
Asia, unfortunately, again, the disruption which has happened because of the geopolitical issues which started again. We were expecting to resume normalizing the sales in Q1. Unfortunately, that got pushed out. We are still continuing with our guidance of high teens growth for Asia for the whole year. We are expecting the Q2, Q3, Q4, the performance to be much better, and we should be able to catch up of the growth what we posted in the Q1. We should be able to deliver mid-teens to high teens growth for the whole year.
Got it, sir. Let's say in 2nd, 3rd, 4th quarter of FY 2026, the sales were almost INR 310 crore, INR 290 crore and INR 274 crore. Currently we are at the run rate of INR 255 crore. You expect the scale-up, because if you speak about mid-teens growth, which means we are talking about ±INR 350 crore per quarter run rate from INR 255 crore, where we are in 1Q FY 2027. Given the supplies disruption, that continues. This is why I'm just trying to sort of think through that. Will you be able to scale up the INR 100 crore additional per quarter and then sustain that number?
Sorry to interrupt, for the Q1 also, we could have posted, the deliveries got delayed receiving in the market. The sales will be captured in the Q2 now. Some of the sales which should have reflected in Q1 got pushed out to the Q2. That much carry forward we will see in the Q2. You rightly said, I think for the rest of the year, other quarters, we are expecting to be the good growth. Overall, there is no constraint on the demand side or our ability to generate the business or prescriptions. It is just the geopolitical issues which are impacting our supply chain and logistics resulting into this situation. Once that is coming online from the Q2 onwards, we are optimistic that we should be able to deliver the mid-teens growth.
Just lastly on semaglutide, at least as far as India market is concerned, at the industry level, uptake still seems to be gradual compared to the anticipation we had before launching the product. Your view as far as India market is concerned, and subsequently, does that strategically change as far as Asia, Africa market is concerned?
From India market, you're absolutely right. It has plateaued. If I look at the June IQVIA data as well as the May IQVIA data there is no significant growth. On ARR MAT basis, if you look at it would be around, let's say, INR 850 crore on market 12 months from now. The growth rates seem to be eluding compared to the expectations that the entire industry had. Nevertheless, it's still a large enough market, and there can be market share gain that can happen amongst the brands.
For the Asia and Africa, it is too early to call out anything on this. The launches are two years further away. I think right now it is too early to comment on how the market will pan out, what will the situation there two years on. Considering the huge equity which we have in this space, particularly the cardio-diabetics space and the specialists, we believe that we should be able to generate a good business with this. Overall, we are optimistic, but it's too early to comment on what will happen after two years or three years.
Got it, sir. Thanks a lot for addressing my questions.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Rashmi Shetty with Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. Follow-up from the earlier participant. You mentioned related to the Asia business that the sales will be carried forward in the second quarter. Should we expect that the Asia sales will be higher in second quarter? It will be catching up the quarter one and quarter two, both sales?
It will be elevated. As I have said that Q1, some of the sales got pushed out, it will be captured into the Q2. Yes, we are optimistic that we should be able to post a good quarter two for the Asia.
Okay. Again, on India market, such strong growth of 24%, which therapies or which products, where we are gaining a very big traction? Is it across? It is related to certain therapies. Is it price-driven mainly, or you have taken higher price hikes, or it's more volume-driven? If you can give us just a broad picture, and then if you can give a guidance for the full year only for the India business.
There are multiple answers to this question, I must say. The growth that we have recorded internally is across all therapeutics, as I've also already shared in my opening comments. For example, ophthalmology, we are growing at 1.3x market growth rate. Dermatology also growing far, far faster, including pain, gynae, everywhere else. Cardio also, internal growth rates are equal or better compared to the covered market of cardiology. Secondly, the growth components are also fairly well-split between all three components, which is the volume. We are growing faster. Volume is 3.4%-11% growth MAT, whereas we are at 4.7%. Also new product launches and price. Price is almost the same as the IPM growth rate. Volume and new launches are what is driving our growths.
For the remaining part of the year, our guidance remains mid-teens, which is what we have guided the start of the year. It's too early to really be able to change that guidance.
For full year, you're expecting a mid-teens growth basically for India business.
Yes. Correct.
On the Africa branded market, if you can let us know, how the pharma industry in Africa is performing, what kind of growth rates it is clocking, and how Ajanta is performing versus the overall pharma market.
No, overall the market is growing. The growths keep fluctuating between 7%- 12% year-over-year. As you see from our numbers, which we have posted last year and for the quarter also, our growths are much far better than what the market is growing there. Overall, it's a sizable market, sizable business which we have built. This is a result of a huge sizable field force, which we have built over years and years and got a good equity with the entire medical fraternity there. Combination of a lot of things, as you would have known that last two, three years, there has been a big ramp-up in the field size. That time also, we had given the outlook that the growth will play out in next few years, and that is what we are seeing now. It's a combination of new product launches.
The people which we added in last two, three years, they have now started becoming productive. It's a combination of multiple things. Of course, we are growing faster than the market.
Okay. What is the kind of growth that we're looking for the full year?
High double digit is what we have guided.
Okay. One last question related to the U.S. business. How many launches are you planning for this quarter?
In this quarter, there are no launches. Last quarter, the Q1, which you are talking about, there we had launched two products, and now most of the products launches will come in the Q4.
Total, we are expecting how many launches for this year?
I wish I could have given you the answer. It depends on the FDA approval.
Okay. Got it.
The way review situation is stacked up with FDA, we believe that the more launches should happen in the Q4, hoping that we'll get the approvals by that time, we'll manufacture and supply the products, and we'll be able to get into the market in the Q4.
Understood. One just last clarification related to the EBITDA margin guidance of 27%, ±1%. That 27% is basically considering the Forex loss item, which generally sits in the other expenses, or it is excluding the Forex loss?
It is excluding the Forex loss, because Forex loss is something which is very uncertain.
Correct.
As you must have seen in first quarter also, there is a gain actually of INR 20 crores, the gain goes into other income and the loss comes into other expenses. That's why that anomaly is there. We always give the guidance without the Forex loss.
Okay. Thank you, sir. That's it from my side.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Pankaj Tibrewal with IKIGAI Asset Manager. Please go ahead.
Good evening, sir, and congratulations on great set of results. Couple of questions. One, when I look at your U.S. market, that's the very big positive divergence we have seen over the last three, four quarters. I remember at the start in FY 2026, you guided for mid to high teens, but you ended up at 49% growth. Again, this quarter has started with 57%. How should we read for this year on the U.S. generally side, assuming that the first quarter has been a blockbuster there?
Yeah. As I read out in my opening comments, the first quarter has been quite healthy and quite elevated. Going forward for the rest of the year, our guidance still remains the same of mid-single digit, so upper mid, slightly above the mid-single digit. We are expecting that some competition will come in and there could be some price erosion and some loss in the market share, which we have factored in for the next coming quarters.
Does that mean that the next three quarters, the run rate could be a decline also?
I'm sorry to interrupt. Mr. Abhishek, could you please repeat your question? Your voice was not clear.
This is Pankaj.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, you can do the math whichever way it stacks up. That's our outlook. We are still believing that we should be landing in the range of mid-single digit to upper mid-single digit kind of situation.
Okay. No problem. When I look at the last three years, CAGR is about 14%. When I take a medium-term
Sorry, can you speak louder? We are not able to hear you.
Yeah. Can you hear me now?
Now it is better. Yeah, go ahead.
Can you hear me now? When I look at the last three years, the CAGR has been about 14% on both top line as well as bottom line. I believe that a large part of investment on sales force and feet on ground has been done. When you look at slightly from a medium-term perspective, can you talk about the engines of growth, where we think the business could accelerate growth from where we were in last three years? Any thoughts on that from an overall outlook on the business?
If you see my investor presentation, we give our strategy outlook. Yeah, basically we are very focused on those aspects which we have clearly spelled out. There is a huge thrust on filing the new products and getting the approvals, whether it is India, emerging markets or U.S. New product always contributes 2%-3% of the growth which will come.
We have a very healthy product pipeline under registration, under approval, under development also.
Very good.
Very good situation we are in. Next is, our aspiration has been to increase the market share in the products which we already operate in.
The large brands which become hundreds of crores, there the increasing the market share becomes slightly challenging because we are dominant player already. Basically then the newer brands, newer products which we launch in, we see the accelerated or higher growth in that. Cumulatively it adds up into a good rate of growth. We are also looking at, I think going forward, we are looking to enter into some new markets as well which is maybe in Asia, Middle East and Latin America. These are the new geographies which will play out in three to five years because we are at a drawing board where we are doing a product selection, filing and it all plays out in three to five years. There'll be new geographies also which will get added.
Basically these are the three engines and every year we see where are the possibilities to add more feet on the ground by adding more headcounts either in the existing divisions or by forming the new divisions. That also is one component which adds up. It takes little time for the new people to be productive. In second and third year then they start to add up into the growth. Basically all these four growth levers, we believe that we are on top of these things and all going well, we should be able to continue executing well in all these parameters. Again, having said that, it has to be supported with the tailwinds of the market growth also.
If the markets are not growing or there are challenges like what we have seen in the Asia geopolitical issues, then they are out of our control, then we get impacted as the whole industry gets impacted.
Sure. Yeah, that's been the only negative divergence from your commentary over the last four, five quarters Asia, where we were expecting mid to high teen growth and actually it's come down quite substantially. Second quarter onward you have been guiding that should pick up also.
Yeah, that's right. That's right, Pankaj.
Thank you. Thank you. Wish you all the best and very happy with the performance which you guys have been delivering for the last few quarters.
Thank you.
The next question comes from the line of Bino Pathiparambil with Elara Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good afternoon to all of you. Congrats on a great set of numbers. Most questions answered. Just one follow-up. Arvind Agrawal, the impact of higher freight cost on materials, et cetera, is that all reflected in the margins and expenses this quarter or do we expect to see something more incremental in Q2?
In terms of expenses, I think the run rate should remain in the range which is there currently. I don't expect a major increase in the run rate. Yes, I think as MD sir pointed out that the U.S. business may see some price erosion, et cetera, because of which there can be some impact. Otherwise our guidance of 27% for the whole year stands.
Understood. Yes. Thank you.
Thank you.
The next question comes from the line of Kavya Shah with Plus91 . Please go ahead.
Congratulations for giving good set of numbers. Actually, I've joined late, I've missed few points. Why was there a growth of 57% in U.S. generic market?
No, it is the momentum which we are carrying forward from the last year. If you see our previous quarters also for the U.S., they have been in the similar range. Just the momentum carries forward from the last quarters, which we were expecting to continue. I think you missed that point, that we believe that this growth should normalize and it should become normal. For the whole year, our guidance has been the mid to high mid-single digit growth.
Okay. Can you give CapEx guidance for that?
Yes. For the quarter, we have spent about INR 83 crores from the CapEx, and for the full year, we are planning to spend about INR 400 crores.
Okay, sir. Thank you.
Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you. Before we take the next question, we would like to remind participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question comes from the line of Foram Parekh with Bank of Baroda. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity and congratulations on the good set of numbers. My first question is on the Asia business. We mentioned that from next quarter, the performance will get elevated as some of the business got pushed to Q2. Can we quantify the amount of business that got pushed and therefore will see some incremental growth?
I wish I could. I think let's wait for the Q2. As much in whatever way I can tell, I have expressed qualitatively.
Okay
There will be expected Q2. That is as much as I can say.
Okay. How certain, or do we have visibility of the shipment going on and therefore the numbers coming in from Q2?
Reasonably confident. Things got little pushed out last minute. The supplies have been made. We have to realize the sales because once the sales are realized, once the stock reaches destination. Fair bit of visibility is there on that front.
Okay. My second question is on the Africa branded business. I see that H2 of FY 2026, we started performing better with some 30% growth, which we have retained in this Q1 also, and we have guided for higher double-digit growth for FY 2027. Just a clarification, would we not see a high base effect in H2 of 2027, or we shall maintain the same run rate because high double digit is quite a broad guidance therefore.
I think you can consider the run rate to be there, plus minus, of course. I think high double-digit very clearly says that 30%, which is there this quarter, is little higher. Over a period of time, we should be able to continue to grow. Only the thing is, it'll be maybe a little lower than the one which we are seeing. Because of that, I think that high double-digit growth is something which is very much achievable.
Sure. My third question, if I may just squeeze in, is on the U.S. side. Could you give us a guidance on the number of filings that we are expecting in FY 2027?
In the current year, we are expecting five to seven filings.
Okay. The follow-up question is that last year we did see a good growth in the U.S. segment, this year we are talking about normalizing to mid-single digit. How should we look at it next year, given that we will have full-year impact of the launches that we made in this quarter as well as Q4?
Normally, we give out the guidances of the current year only. I think next year is uncertain because how many approvals we will get, what kind of product launches will happen, what kind of market share we will have. We are unable to give you the guidance for the next year. I think we'll probably deal with it in the Q4 once we reach there.
Okay. Sir, can you give us a mix of new product launches and the existing business for the U.S.? Just a broad mix.
For the current year, you're saying, or the next year?
Yes. For the current year. Since we had couple of new launches last year as well as in Q2.
We already have two launches in this quarter. I think Q2, Q3, we are not expecting any launches. We are expecting some more launches subject to getting the approval from the FDA in the Q4.
I'm just asking for a mix breakup, how much comes from the existing and how much from the new launches of the U.S. business.
Right now, most of the business is from the existing products only.
Okay.
Two new products have just been launched, and they're yet to have a meaningful contribution in the overall sales. It is still the momentum is carrying forward from the last year.
Got it. Thank you. Thanks for the opportunity.
Yeah.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Pankaj Shah. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thanks for the opportunity. Congratulations on another great quarter. My first question relates to the gross margin guidance. Now, currently we are doing around 80% margins, and our guidance is still 100-200 pips below that. Are we expecting any cost headwinds, any input cost inflation due to which margins are expected to go lower in the coming quarters?
Not really. I think it will be basically the U.S. business where we are expecting some price erosion, where we are expecting the growth to taper down. I think that will impact the material cost also.
Okay. Mix would be one of the factors and some price erosion is what will drive.
Yeah
possible decline in gross margin.
Absolutely.
Okay. Got it. My second question pertains to the employee cost. If I look at the last three quarters, our MR count has been in the similar range, around 6,000, our cost have increased substantially. Is a major part of it is due to increments and/or is there anything else which is driving that increase in employee cost?
If you see the number of Q4 and Q1, I think we are talking about an increase of just about 12%, which is part of the increment and some small number of people who have been added in the quarter. From You are talking about 401.
341.
Yes, 341. Now 381. Practically, I think it is just about 12%. Out of that 12% again, also we have added 50 people during the quarter in the international MR. That much addition will be there.
Oh, okay. Got it. Lastly, just a bookkeeping question. Can you share the operating cash flow in Q1?
We are not supposed to.
I don't have right now.
Yeah.
Oh, okay. No problem. I'll take it offline. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Anupam Agarwal with Lucky Investments. Please go ahead.
Thank you for taking my question and congratulations on great numbers, sir. My question is on the U.S. business again. I just continuing to the earlier participant. If you can slice out the 57% year-over-year growth between volume growth and the growth that has come from product launch in the last 12 months.
We do not give out such granular details. I've already shared most of the growth is from the existing products. There are significant new launches which has happened, but I know that many inclusions from there. I will not be able to provide you that with granular details.
Understood. Secondly, sir, any thoughts on the U.S. administration with respect to the generic price tariff that just came out maybe two weeks back? Any thoughts on that, how the market is taking, how the market participants, your customers are receiving that kind of news?
No, we are carefully evaluating all the developments which are there, which are happening in the U.S. Right now it is a post which is made by the U.S. President. The study which was already done of Section 232 policy, which continues to exempt the generics from any tariffs till April 2027.
They want to do a new study, and President Trump has said two years, which is August 28, which is six months before his term ends. There is a lot of uncertainty, but we are keeping our very close ears to the ground to keep the eye on what are the developments and how they're going to impact and what kind of measures we need to take. Two years is a little far away. We will see when we get closer to the timelines of this two-year, August 28 timeline, which the president has announced.
Just lastly, on the U.S. again, on a basket portfolio level, what is the average market share you would have for majority of your products?
For most of our product, we have a dominating market share.
Of let's say 20%, 25% or still low double digits?
Yeah. 20% and above also.
Understood. Lastly, if I may, sir, INR 400 crore CapEx is for which location or geography of business? Is it just routine maintenance?
Yeah, it is one. About INR 100 crore will be maintenance CapEx and another INR 300 crore we are expanding in our Pithampur plant. There that expansion is going on, there it will be spent.
That is for the emerging markets.
For emerging markets. Understood. Thank you. That's all from my side, and wish you all the best for the remaining.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Abdul kader Puranwala with ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. My first question is with regards to your gross margins, and we highlighted geopolitical issues hampering our growth in Asia. At a raw material level, how are things shaping up, and what was the impact, if at all, in this particular quarter on your overall raw material cost?
I didn't get your question.
I didn't get your question. Please, can you clearly spell out what you are asking.
Yeah. My question was pertaining to the raw material cost inflation because of geopolitical issues, whether you have witnessed that in quarter one. I understand you had a gross margin improvement. Within the segments, would want to know if there is any cost inflation because of geopolitical issues.
There are definitely discussions around the cost increase in the raw material prices. As you know, we hold the inventory. In the Q1, there was practically no impact. Yes, it may start impacting from Q2 onwards.
Okay. Sir, for the Asia business, when we are guiding for a recovery to start from Q2, and we understand the situation right now, it's not improved much. What is giving us this confidence that from Q2 onwards there would be a recovery in terms of growth for the Asia business?
There are some visibilities which we have on the supply chain, how we are able to sort out and streamline those supply chains. On anticipation of that, there is no concern on the demand side. Once we are able to reach the stocks to the markets, we have the demand. We are able to get those demand generated. The puzzle which we are solving is the logistics supply chain, which we believe that we've been able to sort it out. With that getting streamlined, we should be able to get the stocks into the market, and then that should continue.
Understood, sir. Sir, one final one, if I may, on the Africa institution. I understand that business is pretty volatile and this quarter, I think specifically has done very well. Anything if you can comment on how the full year number would look like?
For the whole year, we've already given the guidance for the Africa institution to be the high double digit. At the beginning of the year only, we have given. We expect the rest of the year also to be doing pretty well.
Okay. Sir, this is for the institution business unit, right?
Yeah. For the institution business.
Okay. Got it, sir. Thank you.
All right. Bye.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question to the management, you may press star and one. The next question comes from the line of Yogesh Soni with Haitong. Please go ahead.
Yep. Thank you, sir, for the opportunity. My first question is on the India business. Since cardiology is our biggest segment in the India business, and given that we have been underperforming compared to the IPM, I would like to understand what is our action plan in terms of getting back to performing in line with the IPM growth, specifically during time when cardiology and IPM is doing significant growth. Would like to understand your plans on that, sir.
Our internal growth rate is matching with the covered market as well as the IPM cardiac segment growth rate. Not only is it matching, but we are also surpassing the growth rate of the cardiac segment. The only issue is that the IQVIA capturing of our cardiovascular segment growth rate has not been most accurate, and this has been already shared. For the past three quarters, we have been engaging with IQVIA team and getting them to align as the stockists covered, which actually have major sales of ours and all that. That engagement and that exercise is going, and you've been seeing the improvement taking place already in the last quarter. Hopefully that should happen. As I have expressed and shared, internally, our growth rates are equal or better. We don't need to really worry on the execution, any aspect of that.
Okay. Understood, sir. Sir, one clarificatory question. If I look at the PCPM for the India MRs, the number seems to be in the range of INR 3.5 lakh-INR 4 lakh. Now, I appreciate the fact that you have been consistently adding MRs for the last two years, and you have still managed to grow this number. If I compare this with your peers, the number seems to be upwards of INR 5 lakhs. How should one read this, the difference between yours and peers' PCPM?
To which peer are you comparing this number?
If I compare it with, whether it is Torrent or Dr. Reddy's.
It's not really comparable because the segments in which we operate are not necessarily the same. For example, Dr. Reddy's may not be operating in ophthalmology. Torrent may not be operating in ophthalmology, whereas Ophthal contributes significantly to my domestic business. Therefore, the PCPMs may not be directly comparable. Having said that, two points here. First is that my Q1 PCPM per capita per man is already INR 4.5 lakhs. You'll have to dissect this segment-wise and how mature the teams are. Like you correctly pointed out, I have been adding a great number of medical representatives over the last one year. If you look at my productivity in ophthalmology compared with some of the top companies in ophthalmology, we are at par or better because those are mature segments, mature teams.
However, our productivity in gynecology or in nephrology will be far lesser compared to the industry averages because we have just started in this segment not more than 18 months back. At a blended level, it may not be comparable. You will have to go deeper into every segment and then look at the productivity of our company, our segment PCPM versus the competitors.
Understood, sir. Thank you for your clarification. That's it from my side.
Thank you. Participants who wish to ask a question may press star and one. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, you may press star and one. Thank you. As there are no further questions from the participants, I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Yogesh for closing comments.
Thank you everyone for joining us today. In case you have any further questions that remained unanswered today, please feel free to reach out to our investor relations team. Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of Ajanta Pharma, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.