Supriya Lifescience’s revenue surged by 31% in Q1 FY2027 driven by export demand, while margins faced short-term headwinds from operational costs, with the company maintaining a positive outlook for the year ahead.
Supriya Lifescience said revenue rose sharply in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, even as margins came under pressure from temporary cost issues that management expects to fade in coming months. The Mumbai-based drugmaker reported sales of INR190 crore, up 31% from a year earlier, on the back of strong export demand. But earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 8.1% to INR47 crore, with the EBITDA margin slipping to 25%, as higher power and water costs, plus a weaker product mix, weighed on profitability.
The company’s management said the setback was largely operational rather than structural. Saloni Wagh, managing director, said the water shortage linked to a delayed monsoon had been resolved and should not recur in the second quarter, while the extra fuel and power burden was mostly retrospective. She said the company still expects to reach about INR1,000 crore in revenue for fiscal 2027, with EBITDA margins in the 32% to 35% range. That lines up with the company’s longer-term ambition of about 20% annual growth, as outlined in earlier updates.
Supriya is leaning on backward integration, which management said covers 72% of revenue, as a cushion against cost swings and a way to protect margins as volumes rise. New launches are also adding momentum. The company said two anaesthetic liquid inhalation products and a cardiovascular product are progressing, while a contrast media launch has been pushed back by two quarters after additional development work to make the process more cost-competitive. Industry summaries of the call also said the company plans three to four new products a year, with more launches expected in anaesthetics and ADHD therapies.
The group is also trying to broaden its business beyond core exports through contract manufacturing and contract development and manufacturing, or CMO/CDMO, agreements. Wagh said a large anaesthetic contract is close to a term sheet, with qualification and quality approval already complete. The DSM project has reached a stable operating level near peak volumes, and pharma validation is finished. Separately, the company said an EU audit of its Ambernath site is scheduled for the second half of November, a step that could open the door to more regulated-market sales in Europe.
Capital spending remains a major part of the growth story. Chief financial officer Krishna Raghunathan said work has begun at Patalganga, where boundary wall construction is underway and the first phase will focus on an API block. Management said the site will be important once capacity at Lote tightens, with finished formulations likely to come later. The company also continues to invest in systems such as SAP and quality software, while carrying a sizeable cash balance of roughly INR150 crore in fixed deposits and mutual funds and using no working capital limits.
Not everything in the quarter was smooth. Revenue worth about INR35 crore was deferred because of water shortages, inventory remained elevated at INR230 crore to INR240 crore, and a customs-related issue involving a psychotropic drug export is still sub judice. Management said a new export authorisation has been received and no provision has been booked, describing the incident as a brief technical lapse affecting a single consignment. Even so, the company is signalling that the first-quarter squeeze is temporary and that the bigger investment cycle is still intact.
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