Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Q4 FY24 Earnings Conference Call of Marksans Pharma Limited, hosted by Elara Securities Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Dr. Bino Pathiparampil from Elara Securities Limited. Thank you, and over to you.
Thank you, Astrid. Very good evening to all of you on the call. On behalf of Elara Securities, I, Dr. Bino Pathiparampil, welcome you all to the management call of Marksans Pharma to discuss the Q4 and full year FY 2024 earnings, release and the business outlook. We have with us Mark Saldanha, Chairman and MD; and Jitendra Sharma, CFO. I now hand over the call to Mark and Jitendra. Over to you.
Thank you, Bino. Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us in our Q4 FY 2024 earnings conference call. We appreciate your continuous interest and support for the company. We are pleased to report a strong performance for the year, where we've achieved our highest revenue and EBITDA in FY 2024. Our revenue expanded by 18% year-on-year to INR 2,177 crores, and the EBITDA expanded by 35% year-on-year to INR 459 crores. The performance was mainly driven by volume gains, new product launches, and an increase in the wallet share of our existing customers, as well as addition of new customers. We witnessed a favorable demand in our key markets. The pricing pressure was moderate for our Rx products in the U.S.
In U.K. region, we are one of the leading Indian pharmaceutical companies and aspire to sustain a growth momentum. The profitability of the company has also improved due to the softening of raw material prices and the improved operating efficiencies. Throughout FY 2024, we achieved remarkable milestones. We exceeded our projected target of INR 3,000 crore revenue and a 20% EBITDA margin. Received key approvals from U.S. FDA and market authorizations from U.K. MHRA in pain management, cough and cold, and other therapeutic segments. Our expansion and scalability of the acquired unit of Teva is proceeding according to plan, and we will see meaningful revenue contribution from the unit in FY 2025. Our Q4 performance was flattish with a slight decline.
Although our revenue was slightly lower as compared to the previous quarter, and this is mainly due to the seasonality of our product mix, we were still above our projected target of INR 500 crore per quarter. The transit time and freight rates almost doubled in Q4 as compared to Q3 due to the Red Sea crisis. This escalation impacted a cost of approximately INR 9 crore. We are taking steps to include strategic route optimization to ensure no delay in delivery. In the fourth quarter, obviously, we've hired over 200 new people in the acquired manufacturing plant in Teva. This strategic move has led to an increase in expenses. This is crucial for growth as we scale and improve the utilization of this unit. The profitability parameters will start improving thereafter.
We have strategically increased our inventory levels of finished products and key raw materials in our U.S. warehouse due to various supply chain issues in recent times. And based on the nature of our business, we have large SKUs and are required to deliver weekly orders to our customers. This buffer helps us to mitigate the risk of supply shortages and production delays. This decision has resulted in an increase in our stock reserves by approximately INR 7 crore, while consolidation of the account. We look ahead and feel optimistic on the coming year. Our strategic initiatives to increase our market share, enter new markets, expand capacity, strengthen our product pipeline, increase operational efficiencies, and focus on our execution should deliver a robust growth.
As part of our commitment to enhance our shareholder value, I'm pleased to announce that the board has recommended a final dividend of INR 0.6 per equity share, which is 60% of INR 1 face value. With this, I'd like to turn it over to Jitendra to update you on the financials.
Thank you, sir. In Q4 of FY 2024, our operating revenue was INR 560 crore, an increase of 15.2% compared with INR 486 crore in the same quarter last year. The U.S. and North America was at INR 245 crore, representing a 26.6% increase on a year-on-year basis. U.K. and EU formulation market grew by 12.9% year-on-year to INR 232.8 crore. Australia and New Zealand formulation market recorded revenue of INR 63.3 crore, based on a year-on-year basis. The rest of the world recorded sales of INR 18.9 crore in Q4 of FY 2024. Gross profit was at INR 290 crore, up 19.8% year-on-year. Gross margin for the quarter was at 51.8%.
EBITDA for the quarter was at INR 109.6 crores, an increase of 0.1% year-on-year, and a decline of 17.6% quarter-on-quarter. EBITDA margin for the quarter was 19.6%. The sequential decline is due to surge in freight costs due to the Red Sea crisis from January 2024, and increasing expenses related to the Teva acquisition, and also with increase in hiring in the new facility in Q4 of FY 2024. Profit after tax was at INR 77.6 crores compared to INR 82.7 crores in Q4 of FY 2023, a decline of 6.1%. Tax decline was due to increase in the tax rates. The EPS for the quarter was INR 1.76.
Talking about the full year financial performance, in FY 2024, our operating revenue was at INR 2,177 crores, an increase of 17.6% compared with INR 1,852 crores in the same period last year. The U.S. and North America was at INR 918 crores, representing 18.5% increase on year-on-year basis. The U.K. and EU formulation market grew by 22.9% year-on-year to INR 943 crores. Australia and New Zealand formulation market recorded revenue of 218.8 crores, a 4.4% increase on year-on-year basis. The rest of the world recorded sales of INR 97.4 crores. Gross profit was at INR 1,139 crores, up 22.4% year-on-year.
Gross margin increased by 207 basis points from 50.3% to 52.3% in FY 2024. The EBITDA for the period was at INR 459 crore, an increase of 35% year-on-year. EBITDA margins stood at 21.1%, a 274 basis point improvement over the previous year. Profit after tax was at INR 314.9 crore, compared to INR 265.3 crore in FY 2023, a growth of 18.7%. EPS for FY 2024 was INR 6.92. In FY 2024, the cash from operation was at INR 230 crore, while the free cash flow was at INR 21.6 crore.
The CapEx incurred during the period was INR 208 crore, which includes 125 crore in acquired facility from Teva, 30 crore in the existing Goa facility, 31 crore in the US facility, and 22 crore in the UK manufacturing facility. We spent INR 34.6 crore in R&D, which amounts to 1.6% of the sales. We continue to remain debt-free and have a total of approximately 674 crore of cash as of 31 March 2024. With this, I would like to open the floor to question and answers. Thank you very much.
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 touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to only use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. We have our first question from the line of Agastya Dave from CAO Capital. Please go ahead.
Good evening. Am I audible?
Yes.
Yes, you are.
Thank you very much for the opportunity. So a few questions on this increase in gross margins we have seen. So obviously, there is a seasonality impact there and also a change in product mix, right? So I was just wondering, on a like-to-like basis, what are we seeing?
I'm sorry, you're sounding muffled.
I am using a handset. Hello?
Now you're fine. Please go ahead.
Okay. So on a like-to-like basis, what have you seen on the gross margin front?
Yeah. Hi, Agastya, this is Jitendra here. So gross margin for the year was at 52.3%, as against 50% last year. And, the improvement in gross margin mainly was on account of reduction in raw material prices and also some favorable product mix. So we, we expect the gross margins to remain in the range of, you know, between, say, 50%-52% on a sustainable basis.
Okay. So this, whatever benefits we are, like, this is sustainable, right? This range between 50 and 52.
Yes, definitely.
Okay. So what was the capacity utilization at the new plant during the quarter? The Teva one.
The capacity, we are in the process of increasing the capacity of the new facility. And, so, so, you know, in terms of the capacity utilization right now, it is, it is very low. And, but from this month, say, April, onwards, we have started utilizing the newer capacities as well. So in coming quarters, we will see, you know, much improved capacity utilization at Teva facility.
Okay. In terms of the additional costs that we have incurred, so now if I look at the employee cost base, for example, it's at around INR 80 crore a quarter. So is that a good assumption, that, like, we are done with the hiring, or are there any incremental hires that we need to make even now?
But there will be some more incremental hiring, but I think the last part of it is already over.
Perfect. Perfect, and any other startup costs that you will incur?
No, I think we have incurred almost all the individual costs.
Right. So, sir, on a plant level, when do we expect the breakeven to happen, by when? Tentatively, sir, very, very tentative numbers, timelines, not even numbers.
I think, from this quarter, itself, we should be breaking even.
At an EBITDA level, sir or PBT level?
At EBITDA level.
Okay, great. So finally, for next year, now that you have the plant in place and the production is ramping up, what kind of volume growth are you anticipating?
So, for this, obviously, we have broken the CapEx and capacity to three phases. The first phase was 3 billion tablets, and which we have achieved, we've achieved installing this capacity, so now we are scaling up to utilize this capacity, and we probably have that additional revenue which comes out of 3 billion. But in the FY 2025, we plan to increase this capacity towards the second half of FY 2025 to 5 billion.
Okay.
And, hopefully by the end of FY 25, we will start. This will be added value acquisitions to our already existing revenue.
Could you quantify that number? Can we see like a 15% growth on the entire base?
Yeah, sure.
Yeah. 15%? I'm saying just volume growth, sir. I'm not talking about value.
Oh, yeah, yeah. Definitely, 15 is definitely achievable.
Okay, great, sir. Thank you very much for taking my question, sir. Thank you. All the best. I think it was a pretty decent quarter, though.
Thank you very much.
Yeah. Yeah. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. We have our next question from the line of Nirali Shah from Ashika Stock Broking. Please go ahead.
Hi, could you provide insight into what percentage of our top line comes from ibuprofen and, considering it is our largest molecule, and, what our current market share is for this product? Additionally, what are our internal market share goals for ibuprofen?
So Ibuprofen is, Ibuprofen is just one of the molecules that we have. Obviously, it is, it does contribute, decently to our revenue. I would say we are approximately about 15% of our contribution comes from this molecule, 15.
Okay, and market share?
Again, it depends on which market we are talking about, but it will, it will pretty much be 20%, 15% to 20%, about 15% maybe of the market share.
You mean globally or just North America?
It's again, it's a very broad question, so, I would say globally, I mean, whichever markets we are in, on the
Understood. My next question is, given that our focus on the U.K. and Europe regions, they have actually shown the highest growth over the past year, we see year-over-year comparison. Could you provide an update on the expected launch timelines for new products in these markets.
Yeah.
And with the, yeah.
Launch time for new molecules in the markets are happening every quarter. So we do expect launches happening during the year, which will again fuel growth. We are very optimistic and bullish on our roadmap for the UK market. And for the Europe market, obviously we do plan, we are working towards having an entry into the European market, hopefully in this calendar year. So we are working towards... Not calendar, financial year, we are working towards that.
That's great. And just one more, just global perspective. So with the increasing demand for drugs in the U.K., I just came across an article today. So how well are we positioned to capitalize on this opportunity, considering U.K. is a mature market for us?
We are very strongly positioned. We are amongst the top five companies out there in U.K. So we are very strongly positioned in terms of inventory, in terms of our stock position, in terms of our inroads and market penetration, so we are strongly positioned out there in U.K.
Got it. All right. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. We'll take our next question from the line of Sudhir Bheda from Bheda Family Office. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good afternoon, sir.
Good afternoon.
Congratulations on good set of numbers for the FY24. In fact, the last quarter was muted, and that, I think, was very well explained by you, why the margin was down a bit. Sir, my questions are like, what's your outlook on U.S. market? I believe that, U.S. is a very, very big market and you are trying to penetrate, and if you are able to succeed, then, huge market will open for you. So can you throw some light on your U.S. approach in U.S. market?
Well, we are very bullish on the U.S. market. It is a growth driver for the next two years. We have increased our capacity. We've increased our presence out there, our product portfolio out there. So we are expecting to double our revenue actually, as a matter of fact, in the U.S. market soon. So literally we are quite optimistic and bullish where the U.S. market is concerned.
What kind of growth do you expect in U.S. market in next, say, couple of years?
Well, in the short-term point of view, you know, from a span of maybe one to two years, we are looking at doubling our revenue. So if we are doing $100 million, we're looking at $200 million.
Great. Great. That's a nice two-year. And so I think somewhere, the conference you have projected some INR 3,000 crore of revenue by 2026 and 20%+ margin. Is it still achievable or how do you see your next couple of years stemming out?
It is still achievable. I mean, last year we had projected INR 2,000 crore, and we landed up at INR 2,177 crore, so we did cross our annual projection. I believe in the next two years we'll definitely cross INR 3,000 crore.
Great. Great. And then the last question: There are some report on the shortage of drugs in U.S., so, what's your opinion on that, and how is that opportunity?
Well, there is some report of shortage of drugs, but I don't think we stand to gain on any of that. These are spot shortages which happen, and they may go off after some time. But again, I don't think it is basically within our portfolio to optimize, to basically cash on that.
Okay. Thank you, sir, and all the best.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. We'll take our next question from the line of Kashish Thakur from Elara Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, my first question is based on the Australian market. If I'm just looking into your numbers for the past two, three years, so your Q4 has been substantially stronger as compared to other quarters in the Australian market, so any specific reason behind it? And, should-
Yeah, because, you know, Australia has a reverse seasonal, you know, seasonality, seasonality is different in Australia. So when it's a summer out there, it's a winter out there, right? So normally, the winter always is the peak season for any pharma industry which has, you know, which are strong in pain and cough and cold. So they have a reverse season grid out there compared to other markets in the world.
Understood. Thank you, sir. Sir, my second question will be your R&D outlook. What kind of R&D spend should we expect for FY 25?
Around 2%.
Sorry, 2%-3%?
No, 2%. I would say 2% is more reasonable.
And any next specialization you want to target this R&D towards?
We are working on diversified portfolio. So it basically covers a huge portfolio and segments and delivery system. So it's difficult to pinpoint on any specialty, but it has different delivery systems involved in that.
Understood, sir. Sir, my next question will be on the U.S. market. Like, what is the total number of monographs you have overall in U.S. market?
About 30 odd, 25, 30 odd.
Like, how are we seeing this in FY 25?
The nominal growth that we would expect maybe 40 plus .
So around 10 plus kind of, FY 2025?
Yeah.
Sir, last question will be on the CapEx. What kind of CapEx can we expect in FY 25? And any, like, any kind of CapEx which is gonna be spilled over in FY 25 from the Teva plant?
In Teva we have invested about INR 125 crores. We have presented about INR 200 crores as what we expect for Teva. What we needed to get Teva to at least minimum the two phase that we have planned out for it. So we would be putting in another 75 odd crores into Teva. And then the nominal CapEx which goes on into all our plants that whether it's U.S. or our earlier plants, we normally do nominal CapEx, which goes to about INR 25 crores or, you know, per plant.
So roughly 100 crore is what we are...
Yeah, about INR 125 crore total.
Sir, last question, if I may. Again, on Teva plant, this can, b y when can we expect the optimum utilization, for the Teva plant?
So, like I said, we broke, obviously there's only so much you can do in a short span of time, and we have commercialized the plant. We have got it up to 3 billion units. And, we have just started operation to capitalize on this 3 billion units. Now we are investing into the next phase, which will take us to 5+ billion units. That 5+ billion units will probably come after September, or in the second half of the year, financial year. But, hopefully by the end of this year, we will have a decent run rate revenue coming out from the Teva plant.
Understood, sir. Thank you, sir. Sir, I have further few questions. I will get back in the queue. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Deepak Jain from SKS Research. Please go ahead.
Hello, am I audible?
Yes.
Yes, you are.
So thank you so much for the opportunity. So my first question is to understand what is the next target or goal now that we have crossed our targets of INR 2,000 crore in revenue and EBITDA of 20%?
Our next milestone will be INR 3,000 crore.
Okay. So my another question that I had was regarding the employee expenses. So, is the new base that would be with the onboarding of Teva's acquired manufacturing facility employees, or will it increase in the coming quarters?
There might be a slight increase, not marginal, but not exhaustively, because almost all of the people have onboarded. It just depends on what phase of the acquisition, what phase of the CapEx we are on. So as and when we go up, let's say INR 5+ billion, then we would need more people. If we are talking of between raising it from INR 5 billion to INR 8 billion, then we would obviously need more people to, you know, to fuel that growth.
Got it. From my side, just wanted to understand, so any progress on the targets you were exploring in the European region?
Well, we are in dialogue. We are in advanced dialogue, but nothing concrete right now. But we are hoping, we are optimistically hoping. M&A is such an unpredictable thing, even when you come to the last step, it may not happen. So it's right now, there's nothing concrete to discuss or put pen to paper right now.
Thanks. I have no further question. I'll join back in the queue.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you. We have our next question from the line of Dr. Bino Pathiparampil from Elara Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi, Mark . You mentioned about doubling the U.S. revenue from current level, $100 million, $200 million in couple of years. So, how would this be, how would this work out? Would it be about penetrating into the existing customers, or would it be new customers?
Yeah. So, obviously, it is, it's a mix, doctor, it's a mix of both. Our order book status is quite healthy. So we have a good order book status to give us visibility of reaching to this number. But it is a growth on existing clients as well as new customers coming in, and it's a mix of both actually, that is willing us to achieve this objective. It's still a very small number for a market like U.S., so it's not something that is novel or is unique in any way, but it's still at the top of the iceberg.
Understood. When you say penetrating the existing customer further, is it by new products to the customer, or is it that in the same product, you will get more market share from our existing customer?
So when it's a new customer, it's normally with existing products that we are supplying to another customer, because that becomes our strength and a visibility for the new customers to see the performance and consistency. So it's normally the existing molecules, but there are cases where we have gone and you know, opted for new molecules altogether.
Understood. Okay. And, well, and this is a big jump in number from INR 100 million to INR 200 million in two years. So what would be the key risk to achieving this in your mind?
What will be... I'm sorry, you were not-
What would be the key risk to this, achieving this, in your mind?
I don't think there's much of risk, because obviously when we talk of these numbers, it is with a good understanding on the visibility of contracts, the order book status, and where we stand, or where we will stand by within the next 12 months, and where what will fuel the balance 12 months. So I can safely say that we are quite confident of achieving these objectives.
It's great. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you. We'll take our next question from the line of Darshil Jhaveri from Crown Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello. Good evening, sir. Thank you so much for taking my question. Firstly, congratulations on a great set of results. Hope I'm audible?
Yes, you are audible.
Yeah. Hi sir. So sir, just wanted to, you know, ask that we, I think we are targeted to grow to INR 3,000 crores by FY 2026, but our also our target is to double the US market from $100 million to $200 million. So majority of our growth on the full basis is gonna come from US, because that only will account for around INR 700-800 crores plus revenue coming directly to us from US and North America. So can we, you know, overperform on our, you know, INR 3,000 crores? Because UK is also growing at a good pace. So just wanted some color on that.
Yeah, so this rapid growth, obviously, when you talk of it, you're right, U.K. is also growing. But based on this high jump within a short span of time, the U.S. will be our growth drivers to achieve this objective. This will constitute, like you rightly said, only INR 800 crores, so the balance INR 200 crores will come from U.K. and other markets. But definitely there's a possibility that U.K. may contribute more. But here again, we are talking of literally the next 24 months. So U.K. may need a little more time, as the base is already very big in U.K. compared to the market size. For U.S., the base is very small compared to the market size, so it's easier to go out there.
Oh, fair enough, sir. Fair enough. That makes sense, sir. And so just one another follow-up. Like, once we, you know, scale up to this level, will our margins also improve? Because we'll get some leverage, right? So because currently also you are impacted by...
Margins will improve because of operational efficiencies will increase. Our leverage, operational leverage will also increase. So definitely, we are anticipating a much more robust bottom line.
So that can go 23% roughly, right, sir? Because in, like, December quarter, we were able to get that bit of higher revenue. So just wanted to, you know-
You know, it's difficult to actually put a number and say, but on a consistent basis, are you talking of EBITDA?
Sorry?
Are you talking of EBITDA?
Yeah, EBITDA,.
I didn't get you. When you're saying margins,
EBITDA margins, sir.
So I think EBITDA margins will improve. I think it is possible to achieve those numbers. We are aiming for better numbers, obviously. You know, I think it is doable.
Oh, perfect. Perfect, sir. And just a final question, sir. With, you know, some geopolitical risk as well as, you know, some, you know, wars going on, so will our... How will that impact our U.S. business as well as elections coming up out there also? Is there, like, any sort of a risk for us out there, or just any, you know, anything that you could see in the environment that can happen to us?
Gary, if I had that answer, I would have been a global leader right now. I honestly can't predict the geopolitical issues and, force measures which may be beyond our control. I don't have a crystal ball, unfortunately. And I, and we literally have no say in, you know, on the wars that are happening. And, hopefully, we, we all look for better times, and, we don't, we would like not to think of, of the worst, worst case scenario, because, I mean, we all want peace and growth.
Fair enough. Fair enough, sir. That's it from my side, so all the best, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Akshat Vijay from Hem Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello, am I audible?
Yes.
Yes, you are.
Yes, sir. So I just went through your financial numbers, and I see that at the standalone level, the business has delivered a very strong growth, you know, in this quarter. But at the consolidated level, I mean, at the subsidiaries, there the performance has been on the negative side. So can you throw some light on it, like why the subsidiaries have underperformed in this quarter? And maybe this is not the right way to look at your business.
Akshat, can you mute once you're done with your question? There's some background noise on your line.
Okay.
Thank you. Sir, please go ahead.
Yeah. So standalone, obviously there is a consolidation that happens at a corporate level, at a group level. So standalone, while standalone looks positive, subsidiaries and everything, at the end, there are consolidation that takes place, basically results into the end numbers. And subsidiaries that are in U.K. and U.S., these are all related to again, seasonal product mix that I mentioned about. I would say they are, they're flat-ish to me, okay, but that said and done, again, you know, we have to look at the overall metrics of what we have projected and where we are, what we've achieved.
Not so much quarter-over-quarter, because, you know, the third quarter is the peak season in winter where you talk of cough and cold and everything of that stuff. The winters are always the better months compared to the summer.
Okay, fair enough, sir. Fair enough. And my second question is regarding these U.S. FDA observations which we have received for our Goa facility. So, like, could you please share the status of the same, like how serious they are, and do you see any impact on our operations in the short term? And by when we're expecting any idea? .
I don't see the impact on our operations, number one. Number two is obviously we've replied to all the observations. We don't foresee any issues in the observations. Now we have to wait for FDA to come back. But as far as we are concerned, they are just normal observations that were there.
Okay. Okay, sir. That, that's great. And one final question which I have is that, in your previous calls, you mentioned that you're expecting some, additional INR 600 crore of revenue from the Teva facility in FY 2025. So, like, will you reassure that, that we are expecting the INR 600 crore?
Well, we should be hitting. Let's put a one great number. I would not say we will hit INR 600 crores for the full year because these are ongoing CapEx. We never landed up spending INR 200 crores in Teva. We did only INR 125, like I mentioned in our call. We did only INR 125 crores, which is literally slightly more than half of what we have presented that we will be doing. We have achieved the first phase target of 3 billion tablets, and now we have to hit the 5 billion tablet plus mark. So once we start hitting that, we will definitely start hitting the run rate, that 800 crores previous number that we talk of.
Okay, sir. Great. That's it from me. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Viraj Mahadevia from MoneyGrow India. Please go ahead.
Hi, Mark, Jitendra. Congratulations on stable results. Mark, a question for you regarding the new Teva facility. What is the envisaged product portfolio? Is it likely to be a higher margin product portfolio with better mix versus the rest of the Goa, or is it likely the same time?
It will be most likely the same, maybe slightly better. But I would put a average, I mean, we, at the end of the day, even our Goa is giving decent margins, and we are giving decent EBITDA and gross contribution, gross margin. So I would like to maintain it at the same portfolio. It may be slightly better, you know, depending on the product mix. But the product mix will be slightly different, so I'm hoping for a better margin to come out of the plant.
Right. And Jitendra touched upon this, but you likely break even at the EBITDA level in Goa in the next six months?
Yes, definitely. We are expecting in this quarter itself.
Right. Okay, and look forward to you using those cash balances for that acquisition. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. We'll take our next question from the line of Aditya from MSA Capital Partners. Please go ahead.
Hello, am I audible?
Yes.
Yes.
Thank you so much for the opportunity. Congratulations on a good set of results. Wanted to understand a few things. First is on Teva, so that now that Teva is in India and will be manufacturing in India and exporting majorly to U.K. and Europe, do we envisage a better gross margin profile? Not a lot, but a slight uptick from here because of into, into export market.
It's pretty much what the other gentleman Vijay had spoken on in the previous question. Yeah, I mean, we do. We have a product mix that we are planning that we are launching from this facility. So we do see better product portfolio and product mix coming out of the facility, but that said and done, our margins are quite decent. First thing, I mean, the most important thing in the Teva facility that we've acquired is to first break even. And basically then you have operating leverage kicking in to see that profitability kick in.
So, I-
We have to cross that bridge when we arrive at.
So what I was trying to understand was, definitely you had answered the previous part of the question, that the product profile will be similar. But just wanted to get a feel that because this, this facility is located in India, do we have any margin advantage when we, when we supply to UK and Europe?
No, I mean, all our facility, this is not the first facility we have in India, so in comparison, we have another facility which does literally 100% of our facility, what we manufacture, goes to, Europe and U.S. And, and I think from that, from that standpoint, point of view, our product portfolio, in terms of gross margins, will be very similar, maybe slightly better, like I said. So, but, I mean, from a comparison, we are supplying into these markets, so from what you see is, what you see our historic numbers will basically increase, but the margins will remain, relatively same.
Perfect. So, in a previous few con calls, you had mentioned that U.S. is operating at a bit lower EBITDA margin than our overall company margin. Do you, w hat would be the margin, and where do you think that once we double, the margins would be better?
You see, last year we, we had, you know, a relatively better, EBITDA margin in U.S. as well. As we increase our revenues in U.S., we are seeing, like, you know, lot of improvement in our, EBITDA margin, because of the operating leverage, which will get kicking. So I, I think, you know, we will see a much, improved, margin in U.S. from this year onwards.
So, on that question only, just as an addition, because U.K. also we have similar revenue, but the margin profile is higher. So what is the, is there an idiosyncrasy in U.S. because having the same revenue but a lower margin profile in our U.K. and Europe operations?
Yeah, the U.K. and U.S. are two different markets, so I think we can't compare the two, and the product portfolio is also different. But on an average, I think if you can see the trending of the U.S., what it is showing? It is showing the same amount of gross contribution of margins, but the operating leverage had to be kicked in. And now that the operating leverage has kicked in and will equally improve from there on. But from a margin portfolio point of view, it's very similar. It is only the operating cost in U.S. is different and that in U.K. is different.
Understood, understood. And so do we plan to trigger U.S. FDA audit anytime?
Maybe in the near future, yes.
All right. Any, any thought process maybe in the, in the next couple of years or, or it is much, or it is a longer thought process that you have?
Probably a shorter thought process rather than couple of years. I hope we can get it next year.
Perfect. Understand. Thank you so much, and wishing you all the very best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Kashish Thakur from Elara Capital. Please go ahead.
Oh. Hi, thank you. Thank you for giving me the opportunity again. So just one question. Like I was just going through your annual reports of past few years. So like, in FY 22, you had given time cap of financials. You have given it the EBITDA number and PAT number. So similarly, will you be able to give us the EBITDA and PAT number of FY 23 and FY 24?
Yes, definitely. We will be, like, you know, the subsidiary annual reports will be available on our website. So, definitely those numbers will be shared.
Understood, sir. Sir, like, just following up on the question which previous participant asked. Sir, what kind of EBITDA margin we might be generating from our OTC segment in U.S.?
See, we, we are at, like, you know, we are at, 10%+ EBITDA margin in U.S. as well, in terms of our overall, U.S. portfolio. And that stands, that is going to increase. That is what we are expecting in this year as we increase our revenues.
Understood, sir. And sir, any bifurcation can you provide us, like what percentage of sales in U.S. will be from prescription business and what will be from OTC business?
See, broadly, the mix in our U.S. revenue for OTC is 80% and RX is around 20%.
Okay, sir. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Shyamal Patel, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Am I audible?
Yes, you are.
Hi, Mark. Good evening.
Good evening.
few questions. I know you must be, I don't know what to say, but I cannot keep everything to my heart. That's why I keep on asking, of course, for the betterment of the company. In an INR 314.9 crore profit, just INR 27.18 crores is given as dividend. Don't you think you can improve the percentage of dividend paying to the shareholders who have been, been with you all thick and thin? Just 9%? Good companies give 85%. Okay, I don't expect 85%, but can't we have a benchmark of giving 25% back?
So, Shyamal, we have a, we had a, a formula free cash flow that we had mentioned, and we are going. Actually, we have gone above that formula itself. You know, our free cash flow, based on a free cash flow basis, it could have been much more lesser, but we've actually improved over the last year. So a lot of from a free, we always do it based on free cash flow. We, we invested, like we mentioned, a substantial amount in CapEx. And, based on the free cash flow that was generated, we basically then distributed the balance amount, the balance amount after that into dividends.
But we can't have a policy of 25% of the profits of the company, because we already have INR 674 crore in cash. I'm just asking, you know?
That we see there, the profit figures, basically, like, you know, eventually the funds get utilized in various areas. Like, you know, so working capital adjustment is important, that's what we need to see. The tax payments also are huge, and the CapEx is also there over and above that. So basically, as a company, we have decided, we have a policy of distributing one third of free cash flow to the shareholders. And, we will definitely stick to that. Definitely, we are investing more monies in CapEx and other growth-related avenues. So that also has a priority. So basically approach will be eventually to mix and follow the policy which we have, you know, which we have established at board level.
Yeah, Mark and Jitendra-ji boss, but then, you know, till the people turn into buyers, Marksans share price cannot improve so much. You know, and the people will always see what is the return the company offers. I'm not trying to be selfish. I put it on record, without knowing, I could be one of the largest shareholders of Marksans. I don't know individually. I'm not talking like Mahabir Prasad Agarwal or something. But as individual shareholders, I must be one of the largest shareholders of Marksans. And I try to see the benefit which the company would get, because if the company gets, I will get ? And what we are asking is not much. See, 25%, if you stick on even 20%, okay, we will get 20% of our declared profits. That should even offset the fee of shareholders.
59, 2015, market is at 59 years, 9 years. I don't want to speak because much, because it's already on record. Not that I have made any money.
You've lost the connection for Mr. Patel. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question, please press star and one on your phone. Next question is from the line of Deepak Jain from SKS Research. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity again, sir. So, one more question that I had was regarding the backward integration, which is a great move. So just wanted to understand, when will the benefits start kicking in for this move?
So we have, we filed, like I said, 1 DMF already on, on 1 of the items. We have to basically get an approval to fill, to basically use that, DMF of that active into our formulation. So we are now taking batches, and we're going to put it on stability, file it for past, we have to file a prior approval to our FDA. We are looking at a good 6six to eight months, a minimum eight months, and above timelines needed for that.
Okay, understood. So one more question, regarding, I think, raw material prices have been on the lower end, at least the last few quarters. That's been the trend. So do you expect the same trend to continue, going forward? Or, is there any correction, like, changes that you would be expecting?
I think the raw material has hit its bottom low, so I do believe that it will be stable. Another gentleman spoke about war or something like that. We can't predict any of the force majeure part of it, but right now, based on our outlook, I do believe it will be stable.
Okay. So one last question from my side. Do we have any substantial launches coming up in FY 25? And, can you just let us know any revenue contribution for these?
So yeah, we do have launches coming in FY 25, definitely. But revenue contribution is difficult to pinpoint to a launch or product launch, because we have multiple products that we'll be launching and into various markets. So it's difficult to actually say that, you know, which product will give you what revenue at the on a call, basically.
Thank you, sir. Have a great evening.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question, please press star and one on your phone. The next question is from the line of Jayesh, an investor. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening. Am I audible?
Yes.
Yes.
Yes. So my question is, when two years down the line, when we'll be achieving our desired revenue of INR 3,000 crore plus, so, will we be able to maintain the sustainable net margin rate of 15% or more? Or will the Teva Pharma dent a little bit on the net profit margin?
I think if you hit our, we're talking about two years down the line. I think it should be, we should be able to maintain the margins.
Okay.
It may improve only. It is not going to go down.
Yeah. Thanks a lot.
Thank you. Participants who wish to ask a question are requested to press star and one on their phone. As there are no further questions, I now hand the conference over to management team for closing comments. Over to you.
Thank you all for participating. I know it's always tiring in the evening to get on a call. But once again, I'd like to thank you for your continuous interest and support in our company. And be safe, I'm looking forward to talking to you soon. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you, members of the management team. On behalf of Elara Securities Limited, that concludes the conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.