Expect bottomline growth of 20%, topline of 10-15% in FY21: Venkat Jasti, Suven Life Sciences

Venkat Jasti, Chairman and CEO, Suven Life Sciences, talks about Q1FY21 quarter results, demand outlook, growth guidance, ANDAs filed or to be filed in near future and Vizag facility among others during a candid chat with Swati Khandelwal, Zee Business. Edited Excerpts:  

Q: Please give us the highlight of the April-June Quarter. Which segment has shown how much growth and how was the growth in API business?

A: We are not into APIs per se. We are into CDMO business, contract development manufacturing services business. Mainly to be innovators during the clinical phase of the development, we supply product intermediaries for them. Quarter-on-quarter it is very difficult to predict because we supply 20-30 different products in every quarter and only based on the success of the molecule the repeat business comes. In this quarter, there is an increase in the revenue and also in the profitability on bottomline based on the quarter-to-quarter but if see the similarities to the last year same quarter there is only 8% improvement. If you take into the consolidated revenue then it is a flat growth. But what we have mentioned in our con-calls with the investors that this year it is going to be 20% growth in the bottomline and 10-15% growth in the topline. 

Q: What kind of demand outlook is there in terms of revenue and profit growth guidance for FY21? Also, update us about the kind of client addition that happened in this quarter and future visibility on the same?

A: These are all innovator companies that are involved. Whatever existing molecules for which opportunities are there we are taking care of that. Because of the COVID, the new project is not coming forth for the last two quarters and we expect them to come back in the quarter starting in October because by the time the holidays will be over, hopefully, the COVID situation will also be better in Europe and America, as the main customers are there. Hence in the last two quarters, new project solutions are not there but the existing projects are going well. 

Q: In respect to the Suven Lifesciences update us about the new launches and ANDA filings plans for FY21? Also, tell the segments where you are focusing and the molecules that will be commercialized in FY21?

A: I think there is a need to bring clarity here, the Suven Lifesciences is an innovative company it only does drug discovery activity and there is no commercial activity is there. What we are talking about the ANDAs that belong to this Suven Pharmaceuticals, where we have so far filed 11 ANDAs and since three years some sales are going on. This year we have started supplying 2 ANDAs and one more will be commercialized before the end of the year. Five more will be filed within the next 12-18 months and these are very small volume molecules and the values will be only $2-3 million for each molecule. 

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Q: What is an update on new Vizag facility and by when can we see its commissioning done?

A: It will happen soon. We are supposed to commission in the third quarter of this year but because of the COVID situation, it is dragged out by two months. But before the end of the fiscal, i.e. March 2021, we will be finishing and start the trial runs.