INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Sales in the country were flat, while those in South Africa fell about 3 percent, Cipla said.Cipla Ltd, country's second-largest drugmaker
by market capitalisation, warned on Monday of "multiple headwinds" in the second half of the financial year after its quarterly profit fell
short of analysts' estimates
Shares of the company declined as much as 7.7 percent, in their sharpest intraday drop since November 2017.The upcoming challenges include
capacity balancing in certain categories at plants and sanctions, Cipla said in a post-earnings presentation without elaborating.Higher
crude and commodity prices, and rising supplies sourced from China will also pose challenges in the next two quarters, the company
added.Pharmaceutical companies had been hit by weak sales in the United States as regulatory bans and warnings over quality control
violations at production plants weighed on their profitability
Although pricing pressure remains in the United States, Cipla's North America business grew 23 percent in the September quarter.The
company's second-quarter profit fell nearly 11 percent from a year earlier to 377 crore rupees as sales slowed in markets such as India and
parts of Africa.Analysts on average had expected a profit of 456 crore rupees for the quarter ended Sept
30, according to Refinitiv data
