Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Ajanta Pharma Q2 FY 2027 earnings conference call. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in 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. Yogesh Agrawal, Managing Director of Ajanta Pharma Limited. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. Agrawal.
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Ajanta Pharma's Q2 earning call. With me, I have today 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. Before we start, here is the order for today. I will cover the group and our international businesses. Our Joint Managing Director will take India, and our CFO will close with the financials and our guidance for the year. Please note that during this call, we may make certain forward-looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties. I will start with overall business. Happy [Audio distortion] .
[Audio distortion] . Robust returns position industries Through our key business, starting with in Asia and Africa, which contributed to total revenue in quarter of the current We continue in new markets and, which will ensure consistent growth in this part of the business. Starting with Asia Branded Generics, I am pleased to share that despite the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, our proactive efforts to leverage alternative shipping routes have enabled us to ensure the safe and timely delivery of consignments to our respective markets.
This has resulted in our Asia Branded Generic business bouncing back during the quarter with a growth of 18% and a sales of INR 366 crore compared with INR 310 crores in the corresponding quarter last year. In the first half, sales were at INR 621 crore compared with INR 614 crore in the corresponding period last year, representing a growth of 1%. During the first half, we launched four new products in the region and are confident that growth momentum will continue in coming quarters. Moving to our Africa Branded Generic business, in Q2, it continued to deliver a strong performance with sales increasing by 41% to INR 312 crore compared with INR 221 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. In H1, sales were at INR 607 crore compared with INR 449 crore in the corresponding period last year, representing an excellent growth of 35%.
This robust growth in the first half reflects gains in the market share, new product launches, field force addition over the last two to three years, and a favorable currency movement. During the first half, we 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 the challenges. Let us now turn to other two verticals within our international business. Our U.S. generic business continued to deliver a strong performance, contributing 27% to our revenue in the second quarter. During Q2, revenue grew by 41% to INR 484 crore compared to INR 344 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
For the first half of the year, revenue stood at INR 971 crore, registering a growth of 49% over INR 653 crore in the same period last year. The strong growth in Q2 and H1 was partly supported by a lower base in the corresponding periods of the previous year. During the second half of FY 2026, we had few limited competition products which had driven healthy growth sets. New players have now entered these products, which will moderate our growth momentum during the second half of the year. Taking these factors into consideration, we maintain our full-year revenue growth guidance of high single digits for the U.S. generic business. During the first half, we launched three products, received four final approvals, and filed one ANDA. We currently have 17 ANDAs pending approval. Let me now discuss our Africa Institution business, which delivered a stronger-than-expected performance during the quarter-
contributing 7% to our total revenue. Q2 sales grew by 259% to INR 116 crore compared to INR 32 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. For the first half of the year, sales stood at INR 187 crore, registering a growth of 164% over INR 71 crore in the same period last year. As we have consistently highlighted in our earlier communications, procurements by institutional agencies remain unpredictable, both in terms of timing and the value. While we witnessed strong procurement activity during the first half of the year, given the inherent uncertainty in this business, we do not expect the same level of sales to sustain in the second half. Now, 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. Our India business continued to deliver excellent performance in the second quarter of the current financial year. The strategic investments we have made in expanding our field force and entering new therapeutic areas have started yielding encouraging results. We remain committed to these investments to drive sustainable growth in the coming quarters and years ahead. Reflecting this progress, I am pleased to share that our overall ranking in the Indian pharmaceutical market has improved to 23rd in September 2026 from 24th in March 2026. According to IQVIA MAT September 2026 data, Ajanta continued to outperform the Indian pharmaceutical market, registering growth of 17% compared to the market growth of 13%. Our volume growth stood at 18% ahead of the overall market, while our growth from new product launches exceeded the market by 70%.
Importantly, this performance was broad-based across most of our therapeutic segments, with our growth consistently exceeding the respective segment averages. We remain confident of sustaining this positive momentum in the years ahead. Within our covered market, we continue to rank among the top 10 players across all our core therapeutic segments. Cardiology remained the largest contributor to our India branded sales at 37%, followed by ophthalmology at 28%, dermatology at 22%, and pain management at 10%. Our newer therapeutic areas contributed the remaining 3%, reflecting the gradual progress of our diversification efforts. Coming to our financial performance, the India business contributed 28% to the company's total revenue during the second quarter. Q2 sales grew by 16% to INR 504 crore compared to INR 432 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
For the first half of the year, sales grew by a healthy 20% to INR 1,013 crore compared to INR 841 crore in the same period last year. Field force productivity measured as PCPM improved to INR 4.5 lakh in the first half as against INR 3.7 lakh in FY 2026. This performance was further supported by our continued focus on new product introductions. Our India business also includes the trade generic segment, which contributed INR 56 crore in Q2 and INR 104 crore during the first half of the current financial year. With this, I now invite Mr. Arvind Agrawal, our CFO, to take you through the financial performance. Thank you, and over to you, Arvind.
Thank you, and good afternoon to all. I will take you through the consolidated financial performance for second quarter and first half of the current year. Revenue from operations for the second quarter grew by a healthy 33% to INR 1,794 crore compared with INR 1,354 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. In the first half, revenue grew by 29% to INR 3,420 crore compared with INR 2,656 crore in the corresponding period last year. Of this, India contributed 28%, branded generics across Asia and Africa contributed 38%, U.S. generic contributed 27%, and Africa institution 7% during the second quarter of the current year. This is an affirmation of our diversified business model, supporting consistent growth even in the face of challenges in some of our markets. Our gross margin stood at 79% for the second quarter and first half of the year.
The improvement over FY 2026 was primarily due to favorable currency. For the full year, we expect gross margins to remain around 78% with a variation of ± 100 basis points. Personnel costs remained stable at Q1 level and stood at INR 384 crore in Q2 compared with INR 317 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, representing an increase of 21%. In the first half, cost stood at INR 765 crore compared with INR 620 crore in the corresponding period last year, representing an increase of 23%. This increase was mainly attributable to annual increments, field force expansion, and additional manpower and manufacturing facilities. R&D expenditure, which is included within personnel cost and other expenses, stood at INR 72 crore in Q2 compared with INR 63 crore in corresponding quarter last year.
In the first half, cost stood at INR 138 crores compared with INR 119 crores in the corresponding period last year. This represented approximately 4% of our total revenue. For the full year, we expect R&D expenditure to be around 5% of revenue, with spending stepping up in the second half. Other expenses in Q2 stood at INR 483 crores compared with INR 392 crores in the corresponding quarter last year, representing an increase of 23%. In the first half of the year, expenses were at INR 971 crores compared with INR 765 crores in the corresponding period last year, representing an increase of 27%. First half other expenses include a foreign exchange loss of INR 26 crores. The increase in other expenses is in line with our business growth and mainly reflects higher selling expenses, international logistics, and manufacturing costs.
The increase in expenses also reflects our continued strategic investments in products, brands, and people across the branded generic portfolio. We expect other expenses to remain broadly aligned with the current trend. EBITDA for the second quarter was INR 543 crores, up 47% from INR 369 crores in the corresponding quarter last year, at a margin of 30% against 27% last year. There was no foreign exchange loss in the quarter, so reported and adjusted EBITDA are the same. For the first half, reported EBITDA was INR 971 crores at a margin of 28%. Excluding the foreign exchange loss of INR 26 crores booked under other expenses, adjusted EBITDA was INR 997 crores, up 34% from INR 745 crores last year, at a margin of 29%.
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 markets. This implies a lower margin in the second half than in the first, as competition in the U.S. builds, institutional sales normalize, and we step up investment in R&D and our field force. During the second quarter, other income stood at INR 42 crores, and in the first half, it was INR 108 crores. Other income includes gain from foreign exchange of INR 24 crores in the second quarter and INR 69 crores in the first half of the current year. Taken together with the INR 26 crore loss under other expenses, a net foreign exchange effect for the first half was a gain of INR 43 crores.
Profit after tax for the second quarter grew by 49% to INR 388 crores compared with INR 260 crores in the corresponding quarter last year, a margin of about 22% of revenue. For the first half, profit after tax grew by 40% to INR 722 crores compared with INR 516 crores in the corresponding period last year. The effective tax rate for the first half stood at 26.5% and is expected to be around this level for the full year. Capital expenditure during the first half stood at INR 210 crores. For the financial year 2027, we expect capital expenditure to be around INR 400 crores, including around INR 150 crores of maintenance CapEx and the balance for capacity expansion.
Coming to the working capital and return ratios, our financial position has strengthened between March 2026 and September 2026, where return on capital employed improved from 33% to 41% and return on net worth from 25% to 31%. This was supported by better working capital management, with trade receivable days reducing from 125 to 100 days, as there was better collection in the U.S. business. Inventory days also improved from 63 to 52 days, as we continue to focus on enhancing working capital efficiency. We closed September 2026 with net cash and investment of INR 574 crores after paying the interim dividend of about INR 400 crores during the quarter. To sum up, there are three things to take away from today. First, a strong first half.
Revenue from operations up 29% to INR 3,420 crores and profit after tax up 40% to INR 722 crores, with every business growing in the second quarter. Second, our FY 2027 guidance is unchanged. Revenue growth in the high teens, which factors in a moderation in the second half as new competition in the U.S. takes effect and institutional sales normalize. Gross margins of about 78% and EBITDA margin of around 27%, each with a variation of ± 100 basis points. R&D at around 5% of revenue, an effective tax rate of about 26.5%, and capital expenditure of around INR 400 crores. Third, our balance sheet keeps getting stronger with return on capital employed at 41% and return on net worth at 31%. Our core branded generic business in India, Asia, and Africa remain the foundation for consistent growth in the years ahead.
With this, we now open the floor for question and answer. Thank you.
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 Niharika Agarwal with Nirmal Bang. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. My question was more towards the U.S. generics. We saw approximately a 49% growth in H1. I wanted to understand what is really driving this growth. Is it the new launches or market share gains in existing products or improving pricing?
No. From the last year, second half onwards, we had a product which had a limited competition situation, and we continued that for second half of the last year, and currently this first two quarters, first quarter and second quarter. Because of that, the sales in the U.S. are at elevated levels, which we have seen, and that is what has shown into the 49% growth for the quarter. As we have shared in our opening remarks, the new competition has come in for this product. So we are expecting our market share for this product to be reduced, and because of that, the sales will get normalized for the U.S. going forward in the next quarters.
Thank you. With the five to six ANDA filings targeted annually, how should we view the U.S. business trajectory for the next two to three years, more from a long-term view?
I think I can only give a strategic direction that we continue to file these products. Like in the first half also, we launched three products. We expect few more approvals during the next two quarters, and probably there we will bring them to the market as well. So we have some good products under the pipeline, subject to the approval from the FDA. We should keep bringing to the market and launching them. I think we do not share the guidances for the next year, but for the current year, we have had a very good last year. We have got a very good current first second half. These two quarters also with the sales getting normalized, we have still In the beginning of the year, we had given the guidance of the mid-single digit, which we are now revising to the high single digit for the U.S. market.
This is the outlook for the current year. Let us see how the situation evolves, how many approvals we get now, how many products we launch this year, first quarter. According to that, I think next year we will probably share it at the appropriate right time, maybe in Q4 or the Q1 of the next year.
Thank you. On the Asia business, we saw an 18% growth in Q2. What is really leading to this growth? Are we seeing improvement in underlying demand, or is it because of product launches, or is it just because of the favorable base?
Yeah, it is a combination of multiple things. The base for the earlier Q1, Q2 was around INR 300 crores. Last quarter, sales were slightly depressed at INR 255, but we have bounced back with INR 366. There were supply chain issues. There were some logistic challenges to get the stocks in the market. That has all ironed out. In the last quarter also, we said that there were some sales which were there in the last quarter which got pushed out last minute. We should see those reflecting in the Q2 and Q3, Q4 as well. I think combination of everything, a lot of things getting streamlined, the logistics, the geopolitical tensions which created the logistic challenges, that is getting streamlined. We are doing well. We are able to increase our market share. Combination of everything.
We had ourselves given the guidance for the Asia in the high double digit, sorry, in the mid-teens. We continue to stand by that though for the first quarter, sales were less, but we will catch up in Q3 and Q4. For the whole year, Asia, we are looking to post a mid-teens kind of growth.
Okay, that is all for me. Thank you for the opportunity.
Sure.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Tushar Manudhane with Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, first on the step-up on the R&D spend, if you could further elaborate, this is for which geography? Is it just U.S. or the other geographies as well?
U.S. is almost 50% is for the U.S., and 50% is for the India and emerging markets. That is our R&D spend classification. I am talking about NDA, actually.
For U.S., is this like any specific product where we think there is an opportunity for us, or are these for multiple products?
No, no. We have our program runs on multiple products at a time, which our team is developing. As R&D, we are developing not the simple IR products. If you see, more than 50% of our products are delayed release, extended release products. So we primarily focus on the complex products. That is why it takes time, and sometimes we have a good year where we have the good bio-passing, and sometimes the year we do not get that much success. So we are working at a time on multiple products. I think this would be more than 15, 20 products at a time. Our outlook is that we should file eight to 10 ANDAs every year. So yeah, there are multiple products for any geography, not only for U.S. For any geography, there is a number of products which are being developed at a time.
Got it. So just on the EBITDA margin guidance of 27% plus-minus 1%, when we have done almost 29% for first half. By back of the envelope calculation, it seems it is going to be like almost 26% for second half. Is that the way the trajectory of the margin would be for second half?
Yes. That is what, because as we mentioned, the MD also clarified about that, the U.S. business is going to be a little lower. Even the institutional business is going to be a little down. So both of them getting normalized, I think EBITDA margins will be little lower than in the first half.
Got it. Lastly, for the India business, the cardiac therapy growth has been lower than the IPM. If you could just highlight in terms of steps you are taking to get either in line or better than the IPM.
See, actually, our growth is in line with the IPM, as I mentioned in the presentation also. There is some anomaly in the IQVIA numbers, which we are trying to sort out, but I think it is taking some time. Otherwise, our growth in cardiac is in line with the IPM growth.
Yeah, the market size is slightly better than the covered market. So internally, we are not worried about that.
Got it. That is it from me.
Yeah.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, dial star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Rashmmi Shetty with Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity and congratulations on good set of numbers. Sir, on the India part, in first half, we have seen growth of around 20%. Even IPM growth is pretty strong, around 12%-13% for first half. What we want to understand, and generally what we are seeing that the growth is broad-based only. What has really changed from earlier, where the growth was just 7%-8%, and now it has more than 11%? What has really changed in the IPM itself and even for our company, and whether this kind of growth is sustainable in next year also? If you can comment on this.
Multiple factors. I think one of them is the penetration of the hospitals that is taking place. The number of beds to patient ratio is improving naturally. Also, the fact that multiple government schemes are really helping to drive the prescriptions and the offtake thereby. That's definitely helping. Insurance coverages, again, large government schemes as well as private insurance coverages improving. These are all broader factors which are aiding the growth. Of course, this kind of growth was not forecasted until last year. Also, one of the things that's happening perhaps is the slight bit of slowdown in the growth of the generic, unbranded generic segment, which we saw taking off for the last two, three years, has kind of slowed down little bit. That's adding back to the Rx distribution growth. These are the very broad factors that are aiding the growth.
We hope that this trend continues. New product launches really is helping as well.
Okay. For India business, for Ajanta Pharma, how should we see for the entire year, this growth? Should we still maintain that 15% guidance, or you feel that probably in the second half also we will be able to do better?
Our guidance is mid-teens. We have always maintained that we should be able to grow 20%-25% faster than the IPM growth and the covered market growth, which is what we are doing. It would be marginally better, but again, it is a bit early. Maybe post Q3, we will have a better understanding of where we expect to land.
Okay. On the Africa branded generic business, we are seeing growth more than 30%. Now, for the second half, our base is also pretty high. So, what kind of normalized growth can we expect for the full year?
Africa, we are having a very good momentum in our favor. The growth is the result of many things. As you would know, we have been expanding our field force in Africa significantly over last two to three years. Now we are seeing those field force are blossoming, and they are becoming more productive. We have also launched some good products, so that also is helping the growth. Of course, we are also taking the market share in our existing products. I think there is also some help which we got from the currency depreciation, which we have seen, if you see the same to same comparable period. Having said that, we have a good momentum. We had given the guidance of high double digit for the Africa business, and we are hopeful that to continue the momentum going forward in the second quarter also.
You mean to say that similar kind of momentum in the second half also, despite the high base in H2 FY 2026?
More or less. Could be slightly less, but it will be a robust growth.
Understood. Sir, on the working capital cycle, you know, as all mentioned that, you know, trade receivables and inventory days have come down. At the end of the year, you know, of March 2027, what should we expect? Because, you know, these days will be down only compared to the March 2026, or, you know, it would more or less come similar to the earlier levels?
I think it will come to the similar level. In receivables, you may see some improvement, but in inventory, we will go back to the March level, because currently, for half year or quarter end, there was some down, but I think by year end, you can expect the same, like what last year we have closed.
Understood. On the one clarification required for the forex loss. In the consolidated P&L, how much was the forex loss which is sitting in the other expenses for this quarter?
For the quarter, there was no loss.
Okay, so nothing is-
For the quarter, there is no loss, only there is gain. But in the H1, there is a loss of INR 26 crore.
Okay. Got it, sir. Thank you. That is it from my side.
There is also gain which is sitting in the other income.
Other income. Yeah, that I am aware. Yeah, sir. Thank you.
Net-net, we have got INR 43 crore of profit in the first half.
Okay. Okay, sir.
Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Reminder to all the participants that you may press star and one to ask a question. Next question comes from the line of Aman Kumar Singh, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good afternoon, and congratulations for doing a very good result. I would just like to know a little bit more about what we are doing to expand our Asia business. We have seen tremendous amount of growth in India business, in U.S. business, in Africa business, especially the institutional side of Africa business is growing. What is our role, how we are going to expand this Asia business? Because if other business moderate, some of the areas need to, you know, buck up so that we can have a better growth in the next coming quarters. Please.
Yeah. I think your question is very broad-based, so it is very difficult to give a very specific answer. There are two folds. I will split it in two ways. The existing geographies where we are present, and the existing geographies where we are present, we have a very good product pipeline, which is under registration in the various countries. We have number of good products under development in the R&D. So both, as they come to the market, you see certain percentage of the growth is driven by the new product introductions. So we have a good product pipeline, and that will continue to drive the growth. We are also continuously adding the manpower in there, because we see there is a gap, there is a void, or as we launch more products, we need more people on the ground.
So with that also, we are able to increase the growth momentum continues. Just to share with you, in the current first half itself, we have added more than 100 people in the emerging markets in the field. So, we have increased our field force by about 5% for the first half. And we have given the guidance that we will be increasing around 7% to 8% in the field force the whole year in the emerging markets. So this is the one for the existing geographies, so we are on track. The challenges we faced last year and the first quarter was more of a logistics and supply chain, not really the demand or our ability to increase the business or get the market share. As those two challenges are behind us, we are confident that we should be able to post a good results in this thing.
We are also actively looking at the new markets where we are not present in the Middle East. There are certain markets where we are at a mid-stage. We are not at a very evolved stage. So those also, as they keep blossoming, they will also continue to deliver the growth. So all in all, there is a good engines or growth drivers which are there in Asia also, which have been put in to give a sustained growth in the coming years as well.
Okay. Thank you. It was a good answer. Another question I have is, while doing our India business, you said that one of the growth drivers which you are actually seeing is large increase in prescription from the Indian market, especially the government-aided scheme from the government hospital and even the new beds which are getting added in our country. There is an also issue related to recently lot of drugs being coming under NPPA radar. So, how that is going to affect our growth or our profit margin while doing business in India?
Some of these products that have come under the NLEM are only in oncology segment. Since we do not operate in that segment, it has zero impact on us whatsoever. So, we continue to operate in normal circumstances.
Okay, thank you. I think I got my Thank you so much.
Yeah.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Harshil Patil with ASK Wealth Advisors. Please go ahead.
Thank you, sir, for the opportunity. I have just two questions, and these are more from an understanding perspective. One is I just wanted to know, just continuing on to the earlier participant's point. While the oncology thing government has taken up, we do have cardiology with us, so that also is something which the hospitals would administer. Let's just build a case wherein something like this comes in. Is there a case where we'll also be impacted? Maybe we'll have to share something with the channel or maybe we'll have to revise some prices. Any thoughts, any color if you can provide on this, that will be helpful.
No, until we have a specific product list from the government and the-
Right
specific pricing, till that time, it's not possible to do any working on this. You would greatly appreciate. Otherwise, it will become too theoretical and-
Correct
there will be multiple scenarios. But there is no immediate threat, broadly speaking, in my view.
Right.
So, this is where we are.
Right.
We are not very worried.
Okay. Okay. That's helpful that you're not very worried. That helps. Second thing is, sir, with respect to the in-licensing semaglutide thing we've done. I just wanted your thoughts on when do you think really we would be seeing the numbers in the revenues? Since we are more centered towards the Africa and the MENA regions, what kind of potential should we see around? Any type of comments, maybe qualitative or something, would also be helpful, sir. I know this is more from a kind of long-term story, but I just wanted to understand it.
I think any sales should start coming in in the next year, which is 2027/2028.
Okay.
As you know, it takes a lot of time for product registration in various countries. On an average,
Right
approval lead time around two years, and we have just started to file the dossier.
Okay.
It will trickle in, and since our arrangement is for the large number of countries, which includes small, medium, and large-sized countries, it will start to trickle in. It will not be like a one-product launch of a sizable in one country where you see the full-blown benefit in one go itself. It will have a trickle kind of impact. I think we shouldn't factor in too much. Whatever growth guidance as we keep giving every year, I think that will be including all this tie-ups, in-licensing tie-ups also. That will be folded into the guidance that we are giving.
Okay. You're saying that whatever be the potential, it will be more so included as a part of the guidance as and when it's shared. Is it?
Yeah. Yeah. We will keep sharing. Every year, we share the guidance at the beginning of the year.
Okay.
Whenever we share the guidance, it will be encompassing this in-licensing also.
Sure. The point that I'd be taking is, the lead time for approval is around two years, and we've just about started filing. Just as a ballpark understanding, I can just have these points, right?
Absolutely. You are correct.
Yeah.
You are absolutely correct.
Perfect. Thank you, sir. That is it from my side, and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Yasir Nakrawala with Emkay. Please go ahead.
Hi. I would probably appreciate if you could shed some commentary on our MR productivity on the India business. Just to build on the India business, when you talk about new launches, what are the sort of portfolio gaps in our existing therapy areas that you feel you need to fill with these launches? Secondly, any addition do you believe in the next three to five years we will have to maybe diversify the therapy mix? Any comments on that would be helpful.
On the productivity part, as I mentioned in the opening remarks, the first half productivity stands at INR 4.5 lakhs, as against INR 3.7 lakhs for the entire financial year last year. We have gained substantially in the per man per month productivity. That is where we stand. What else would you like to know?
On the existing sort of branded generic portfolio you have, where do you feel you need to, with these new launches, where do you need to sort of fill in those portfolio gaps in the existing therapies? Secondly, any therapies you would like to sort of get into over the next five to five years that we believe on us?
So it's a continuous process within our company to be on top and ahead of the competition in terms of identifying new product opportunities and keep launching them. As and when we feel that it's a sizable market size and there is a gap area, then that's how we do it. We have a rich product pipeline for the remaining year as well as the next. Going forward, to answer the last part of your question, on the new therapeutic areas, again, we keep evaluating. Like last year, we entered into gynecology, which is gaining great momentum for us internally. So in that sense, we keep identifying, looking for newer therapeutic areas, and as and when we have a great go-to-market strategy, we will enter those specialties.
Sure. Thanks for that. Lastly, on our emerging markets of branded generic business, what would be our acute chronic mix, and do you even track that? That'd be interesting to hear that.
Yeah, I think
Yeah, we track that, and I think it is quite healthy. We have a good acute chronic ratio. I think I don't have the figures right now, but maybe our investor relations can get into it.
Sure. Thanks a lot, and wish your team a happy Diwali. Thanks.
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 Foram Parekh with BOB Capital. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. My first question is on the emerging markets of Africa and Asia. Sir, if you can give us some specifics, like you have said, we have added 100 people in the emerging market. So if you can give us the MR count separately for Asia and Africa, and the productivity as well.
We don't share that granular details. We just give the overall number. Emerging markets, last year we had 2,400 MR strength, and then we added around 100 people more, so we are at around 2,500.
Okay. Sir, how should we think about it? Is it equally distributed between Asia and Africa, or is it a larger part goes into which geography?
As I said, we don't give out those details, so it will be difficult for me to comment on that.
Okay. If you can give us the productivity number?
Productivity in emerging markets stands at around INR 8 lakhs and above. I think it is about INR 8 lakhs plus.
Okay. Okay. Sir, my second question is on the India business. We did venture into newer therapies of nephrology, gynecology, and all. In that, you mentioned about gynecology doing, picking up well. If you can give us some specifics, like how many doctors have we reached and how many MRs are being attributed towards the newer therapies?
Again, we are not giving division-wise or specialty-wise MR split. However, if you still would like to reach out to the investor relations teams, we will be happy to share whatever best that we can. Broadly speaking, both the specialties are progressing well for us, which is what matters the most. This is like a three to five-year progression that we are looking at. It will have to continue to build for us.
Okay. My last question is on the U.S. market. We have mentioned about five to seven filings to be done in the U.S. If you can just help us, if there are any Para IV filings within this count?
I believe no. I think there is no P4 filing.
Sure. That's all from my side. 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 Yogesh Soni with Haitong Securities. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity, sir. My first question is on the U.S. business. Given that you have said that you might see some amount of competition coming in on the products, and the run rate for U.S. would likely be lower in the second half, which would impact margins. Does that imply that our U.S. business profitability is now in line with the corporate level? If you could clarify on this.
We do not give out the geography-wise or business vertical-wise margins. U.S. remains to be healthy for the first half, considering we had some product which was a limited competition. I think we have constraint in what details we can share, so we don't give out those. As a policy, we don't share those data for the territory-wise GC or
But, sir, we might have witnessed significant amount of improvement on the profitability front with regards to the U.S. market. Is it so?
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That is what we've seen in the P&L also, with the 49% growth which we have posted on the U.S. That also shows it has flown down to the EBITDA PAT as well. We posted a very healthy PAT of 49% growth.
Okay. And sir, one more thing. On the emerging markets, given the kind of investments that we have done in the last two years, whether it is with regards to adding of the field force or entering new geographies or the new product launches or new therapy areas, do we see that over the next two to three years, the kind of performance that we are looking to deliver in the emerging markets should be better than what we have previously done, at least in the last five years?
No. If you see our last previous also, I mean, you leave out year-to-year variations, and there are so many factors which go into the play. Like, last year, it was purely a geopolitical issue. There was nothing related to Ajanta or pharmaceutical companies, and it impacted everyone. So, our performance was largely driven by the external factors most of the times, not so much by the internal business. In most geographies, if you see our Asia and Africa, I think last three years, if you see my average CAGR, I think we are doing around 13%- 15% of CAGR. We are optimistic that, I think Ajanta's story is not a quarter story. Ajanta's story is not two-quarter story. It is not one-year story. It has to be seen in a three-years horizon and plus.
We could have a quarter where the sales are slightly depressed, next quarter elevated. But if you see average over year-over-year, three years trajectory, we have been able to post good growths. So, we remain optimistic. We feel that emerging markets, we have all the growth drivers in place, so we should continue to post good growths.
Okay. Okay. Thank you, sir. That is it from my side.
Yeah.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Harshil Patil with ASK Wealth Advisors. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the follow-up, sir. Sir, just one thing wanted to understand. This is for the India business. We have got our four therapy lines, which are kind of accounting for a major chunk of the growth in India. Recently, the two new have been added. As we have guided for a mid-teens kind of a growth in 2027, maybe, is there any comment that you could give as to any specific therapy that would sustain a stronger growth or probably susceptible to some weaknesses or something like that for FY 2027? Going ahead over a larger period for 2028 or something, should we assume on a covered market basis we will be ahead of the IPM and something like that? If you can say.
I will restrict my comments to the current year. If you have already seen in the first half or maybe the MAT basis, we are growing much faster than the IPM growth rates in each specialty.
Right.
Whether it was ophthal, even though Ajanta is the number one ranked company in ophthalmology, including derma as well as pain.
Correct.
Cardiovascular, we are almost par or just marginally better. We are doing well. So it is with gynecology and nephro. However, the base remains very small, so the growth really is not worth talking about. Next year, I think we will come to that maybe in Q4 when we look at the guidance for the FY 2028. But so far, current year, we are okay. We will be able to maintain these growth rates of good.
Okay. Okay. That's helpful, sir. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, kindly mark a star and one plus question. Next question comes from the line of Foram Parekh with BOB Capital. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the follow-up. Sir, if you can just help us with the constant currency growth for the U.S. market.
Constant currency growth is about 30% and higher. I think it's in the range about 30%-35%. Yeah. For the first half is about 35% odd, yeah. As for the second quarter is, I think, about between 30%-35%. Yeah.
Okay. Sir, if you can help us with the CC growth for Asia and Africa as well.
I think I do not have those figures right now with me, but you can consider about 4%-5% is the currency exchange gain which we have seen in the entire export business, whether it is Asia, Africa, or U.S. It would be slightly higher also. I think about there.
Sure. That is helpful. That is it from my side.
Yeah.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. We have reached the end of question-and-answer session. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Yogesh Agrawal for closing comments.
Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. In case you have any further questions that remain unanswered, 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. You may now disconnect your-