Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Q3 FY 2026 Earnings Conference Call of Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited. We have with us today Mr. Pranav Amin, Managing Director, Mr. Shaunak Amin, Managing Director, Mr. R.K. Baheti, Executive Director, Mr. G. Krishnan , CFO, Mr. Ajay Kumar Desai, Senior VP, Finance. As a reminder, this conference call is only for analysts, institutional investors. 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 touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. G. Krishnan. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining the conference call to discuss the financial results for third quarter and nine months ended December 2025. Let me briefly take you through the numbers for the period before handing it over to Shaunak. So moving on, we continued the momentum that we had in the first half of the financial year into the third quarter. Revenue for the quarter grew by 11% year-over-year to INR 1,876 crores. The quarter saw broad-based growth driven by volume expansion, new product launches, and increased traction in next year markets, offset in part by pricing pressure in U.S. Generics and API. Our gross margin was at 72% for the quarter, compared to 74% in the previous year.
The moderation was primarily driven by change in product mix and pricing challenges, partially offset by cost improvement programs that we have in our international business. Pricing pressure in international generics, particularly in the U.S. and API businesses, persisted during the quarter. These headwinds were mitigated by sustained cost efficiency programs, helping us remain competitive in the market. As communicated earlier, our gross margin remained in the operating range of 70%-75%, so hence the gross margin of 72% for the quarter is something that we are comfortable with. EBITDA before R&D expenses and exceptional items stood at INR 464 crore for the quarter, representing 25% of revenue compared to 23% in the previous year. Again, reflecting an improved operating leverage and prudent management of discretionary spending during the quarter.
Hence, the year-over-year EBITDA growth was at about 20%. R&D expenses increased by 33% year-over-year to INR 165 crore for the quarter, and this is in line with the full-year guidance of INR 600 crore -INR 650 crore that we had provided earlier. Profit before tax for the quarter, but before exceptional items, grew by 15% year-over-year to INR 205 crore, again, reflecting underlying revenue growth and margin improvement that we have seen during the quarter. Profit after tax for the quarter before exceptional items grew by 21% year-over-year to INR 168 crore. Pursuant to the changes under the new Labor Code, the company has recognized a one-time provision of INR 42 crore towards employee benefits. However, this does not impact operating performance or any immediate cash flow.
Adjusted for this exceptional item pertaining to the Labor Code related impact, reported profit after tax was lower by 4% compared to previous year. Net working capital stood at INR 2,944 crore, broadly near the September levels. Net debt marginally declined to about INR 1,213 crore compared to the previous quarter. Moving on to the nine-month results, revenue grew at 12% year-on-year to INR 5,000, close to about INR 5,500 crore. Again, growth was broad-based across all the businesses. EBITDA before R&D spend and exceptional items for the period was about INR 1,391 crore, which is 25% of the revenue and resulting in a 25% year-over-year growth.
This reflects strong revenue growth and better utilization of facilities, of capacity utilization across facilities. EBITDA post R&D expenses was INR 921 crores, which is 17% of revenue, and PAT before exceptional items for nine months grew by about 22% to INR 505 crores. Well, I have given a broad overview of the financials for the quarter. I now request Shaunak to take you through the India branded business. Over to you, Shaunak.
Yeah. Thank you, Krishnan. The India Branded delivered a 6% year-on-year growth, reaching a revenue of INR 625 crore for the quarter. Gynecology, ophthalmology, animal healthcare segments have demonstrated accelerating performance. Our anti-infective segment grew in line with performance, and we have launched successfully four new products in this quarter. I will now hand over the discussion to Pranav.
Thank you, Shaunak. I'm pleased to present the performance for the third quarter of FY 2026. The Q3 performance reflects continued momentum as we strengthen our presence across key markets and achieved growth in both formulations and API. The performance was driven by a 36% growth in ROW markets, reflecting our strategic geographic expansion and focused execution. The U.S. business grew 6%, supported by higher volumes and new launches in the last few quarters, despite continuing pricing challenges. We have executed a few out-licensing and manufacturing agreements as well that support our injectable and onco capabilities. These strategic contracts, along with the announced products, will help us scale utilization in these new facilities over the next 12-18 months. We continue to maintain sharp focus on profitability and operational excellence.
We filed one ANDA during the quarter, and cumulative ANDA filings were at 270. Our R&D investment is approximately 9% of revenue, and it demonstrates our sustained commitment to pipeline development and long-term value creation. The focus remains on complex and differentiated areas, such as injectables, peptides, oral solids, and drug discovery, with an emphasis on early entry opportunities, including first to file day one and NCE-1 launches. We received 7 approvals in the U.S. We launched two approved products in the U.S. during the quarter, and cumulatively have 23 ANDA approvals and 20 tentative approvals. We hope to launch another four-five products in the Q4 of the year. We are also on track to launch our first branded product in the U.S. in February 2026, sometime in Q4 we'll do it.
Pivya is a first-line oral antibiotic targeting uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women, with a track record of low treatment and emergent adverse events. This will help us target this particular market in the U.S. While the launch will have an impact on near-term profitability, we expect the product prescription share to scale up during the course of the next 12 - 18 months. We are confident of the medium to long-term market opportunity that the product will help us capture. Moreover, this helps us with a strategic shift towards part branded we can ramp up hopefully in the years to come. With this, I would like to open the floor for Q&A.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use hand signs while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Damayanti from HSBC. Please proceed.
Hi, good evening, and thank you for the opportunity. My first question is on India business. So, Shaunak, we have seen some improvement, but the growth seen so far is still below the market growth rate. So, when we are anticipating Alembic India growth to catch up with the market growth, and what kind of progress you have seen versus last quarter when we spoke?
Yeah. So, you know, the India business is quite complicated, and it's got a lot of moving parts, and to grow it on a sustained basis requires a lot of interventions to make it happen. I think at this point in time, I think Q1 of the coming financial year is where we feel we should be back in line with the market growth rate.
Okay. So whether that will be driven more by improvement in processes, or you are looking forward for some, some meaningful launches, et cetera, which can really help you to catch up with the market growth rate?
So, I mean, obviously, launches continue to happen, but I think we're basing this to be more back of operational execution to drive this growth in Q1.
Okay. So, say, next fiscal is the timeline where you think your India growth will converge with the market growth rate?
Yes.
Okay. My second question is to Pranav, regarding your upcoming launch of Pivya in the U.S.
Yeah.
So, this is a branded product, right? And in this space, I think what we have seen in the market, there were earlier launches which were good in terms of efficacy, but somehow, there were problem on the reimbursement part, et cetera. So that's why many, I'll say many brands went out of the market. So, what are your expectation in terms of reimbursement for this product, and what preparation are currently underway?
Yeah, so-
What makes you think, like, this will be a success compared to other AMR products which were there in the U.S. market?
Yeah. So I think success is relative, right? I think what we're trying to build is just some kind of incremental business. As you know, we've said, given the details about the licensing, it wasn't very expensive. It's a high royalty outgo for us. We believe there's quite a few, there's a couple of products already in the market, and we can position ourself well. There's some new ones, which are very expensive. There's some older ones, which are genericized. In terms of efficacy, I think we sit on a sweet spot. So I think let's see how it goes. It's still early days. I think, let's take a couple of quarters to see where we stand.
I think in terms of the reimbursement and the co-pays and everything, where the team is, U.S. team is working on that with the respective customers and the bodies.
Okay. But it's on track for launch this quarter, right? In this quarter.
Yes. Yes. Yeah, it's on track for launch in this quarter. I think the MR training, the MRs are being onboarded right now. The material is being shipped to the U.S., so, and the material is all ready. So I think we're on track for Q4 launch.
Okay, my last question is on U.S. business again, where we continue to see challenges on the pricing part. Then you mentioned some contracts on the injectables and onco, which might help you in coming quarters, et cetera.
Yeah.
Besides, first, like, when these contracts will start appearing in your numbers, and when you think U.S. will be back on growth track?
So I think, U.S. is already on the growth track, as we speak. We are growing. In terms of volumes, we're growing quite a bit. With the pricing, pressure, you take it, so with that, it's 6%. Last year, Q3, we had a higher base because we had a few more launches, in quarter Q3 of last year, a few big launches that bumped up, Q3 last year.
... But I expect the U.S. business to go between 10%-12%, for the full, on a full year basis, and I think we're well on track for that. We have a few interesting launches happening in Q4 as well.
Okay. That's helpful. Thank you.
Thanks. Thank you.
Thank you. Before we take the next question, we would like to remind participants who wishes to ask a question, you may press star and one now. The next question is from the line of Candice Pereira from Dolat Capital. Please proceed.
Yes. Hi. So, just to clarify, the R&D number is all INR 65 crore, right, for this quarter?
Yes.
Okay. And will it remain in this range for the next year as well, so approximately 9% of revenue?
So your voice is a bit muffled. Muffled. If I understand, the question is, is it going to be at the same level for next year?
Yes.
So, you know, next year we will guide sometime when we start the next year. But for the current year, we have, we're seeing it about 8%-9% of our total revenue as the R&D spend. And it's been at the similar levels for Alembic in the last few years. So for next year, specifically, we will discuss at the time when we do the quarter four results.
Okay.
Yeah, but by and large, I think we will be along the same numbers. We'll be between that 8%-9% kind of range, generally.
Okay, got it. And, the other income is slightly higher this quarter, so is there any Forex gains, and how much is it?
Yes, and Forex gain should not be big. I think you could say that... So yeah, so the other income is about INR 15.5 crore, and most of that will be Forex gain.
Okay. All right. Yeah, I think, yeah, that's it from my side. Thank you.
Thank you. Participants who wishes to ask a question, may press star and one now. Participants who wishes to ask a question, may press star and one. The next question is from the line of Rahul from IIFL. Please proceed.
Yeah. Thanks, sir, for taking my question. Sir, on the domestic business, can you talk about the challenges which we are facing? Because our domestic business growth has been quite tepid over the past three to four years, so we have been underperforming market growth. And in the past as well, we have talked about growth improving, but we haven't seen that playing out. So, just in terms of how our domestic business is shaping up to be, and do you think that with the kind of scale-up in investments which we were doing for the U.S. business, over that period, maybe the investments on the domestic business have been on the lower side, due to which now we are struggling to grow even in line with market?
No, I think, Rahul, I mean, I don't think there's an issue of underfunding the business. I mean, if you want to talk about something that maybe we were too conservative on, I think the whole doctor spend scenario in the context of UCMP, possibly we were too conservative and extremely sensitive to it relative to the market. That's what I understand. So maybe that was one of the factors which has led to this. I think except this, I think historically, Alembic has not been a high growth company, period, but I think we want to fix the fundamental issues that have been plaguing us. I think that compounded with, you know, the post-COVID drop that we saw, rather the COVID bump that we saw for a large part of our large brands in the business.
I think dealing with those, when those markets prepped, I think it compounded the whole view. But I agree with you, I think the growth has been tepid, but I think we're quite confident of this going forward at this point in time.
Sure, sir. So, some of your peers have also been actively expanding their rep teams in India in order to, let's say, drive penetration in some of the smaller tier two, tier three markets. So while we adhering to the ethical norms might have slightly impacted our growth, but do you think that there is a need for us to expand our field force in order to drive better penetration at a market level, which would help us to drive better growth going forward?
I personally don't think at this point we are looking at any further large expansions. But that being said, yes, there is a large opportunity in India, in the India market. Assuming if things start going as per our expectations operationally, I mean, we would consider and look at those plans to take it forward. On that point of the UCMP, I don't think it's a small bit, I think it's a very large bit relative to the extremes of it, this. So I think that's a large part of many companies where there is extremely high growth.
Okay, sure. But that, then if that is your stated strategy, that's not going to change going forward. So then our domestic business, in the best case scenario, would, let's say, grow only in line with market or continue to slightly underperform market?
I think, Rahul, we can take this offline. I think it's a lengthier discussion because it's, we're talking of multitudes of company. But yes, I think the alignment to UCMP, possibly more companies are sensitive to it today than they were in the last two years, so.
Okay, sure. And question with respect to the U.S. business. So while we have been aggressively investing in terms of R&D, so FY 2025, we saw a slowdown in our R&D spend. But again, this year there has been an acceleration. So when do we actually see our U.S. growth picking up from whatever complex opportunities we, which we are, pursuing? So Pranav talked about injectable peptides, even drug device combinations. So just some outlook in terms of how do you see the U.S. trajectory over the next two- to three-year period? Because as I said, we have been aggressively investing behind this business.
No, so also, if the U.S. business has been growing, I think, what's happening is due to increased competition and competitive intensity, we are finding that the opportunities are becoming little less. Having said that, in terms of volume, we continue growing, and I think with some of the injectables that we're doing, we've got few injectable opportunities, we're getting a few more. And I think over the next two years is when we should see a lot more of that coming up. I think ophthalmic, we've done a pretty good job, and we've got a lot of market share in most of the ophthalmics that we've got and a lot of leadership positions over there. And injectables, the general injectables and complexes also, we'll do that over the next couple of years once we get the additional approvals.
Okay, sure. So, so do you think that the U.S. business can grow at a mid-teens kind of a constant currency rate going into 2027 and 2028?
Yeah, it could. I think, I would say, you know, it's tough for me to say. Ideally, yes, I would like to go on the mid-teens, but yeah, like between 10-15, at least I would expect the U.S. business to continue growing every year.
Sure. One last question from my side, with your permission. With respect to this branded product launcher, what kind of a margin drag should we factor in, let's say, for an initial period till the product starts scaling up?
So I think till the product starts scaling up, there would not. We wouldn't have any margin because, you know, you have until it gets to a certain point, you have your MR costs, you have the royalty payments, you have everything else. So I think, let's see, I think, let's wait for a couple of quarters, and you guys will all get a much better idea. We will also get a much better idea how quick the ramp-up is happening.
But let's say if we had to budget in the OpEx for this business, what kind of OpEx do you envisage for this business for, let's say, by 2027?
Rahul, I think the way you should look at it is that overall company level, the margins is something that you should factor. What we are seeing is that the core business margins have shown improvement in the current financial year. And with the better capacity utilization in the existing facilities that we have put, the margin expansion is something that we should see, you know, coming out in the next few quarters. Now, we are, like Pranav said, you know, we don't know exactly where we will land on the top line, so hence the margin pressure on Pivya launch is something it's not possible for us to predict at this point.
But from a modeling perspective, you could, you could assume that, you know, the margin expansion will be sort of a cushion for the expenses that will come from PVR.
Okay, sure, sir. Thank you. I will join back the queue.
Thank you. Participants who wishes to ask a question may press star and one now. Participants who wishes to ask a question, may please press star and one now. As there are no further questions from the participants, I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. G. Krishnan for his closing comments.
Thank you for joining on the call for third quarter. Please feel free to reach out to the team for any clarifications or questions you might have. Thank you once again. Have a very good evening.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited, we conclude this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.