Lincoln Pharma is exploring new areas in African, EU & South-East Asian countries: Mahendra Patel, MD

Mahendra Patel, Managing Director, Lincoln Pharmaceuticals Ltd, talks about the sales and export markets, new geographies of expansion, launches of new products and CapEx among others during a candid chat with Swati Khandelwal, Zee Business. Edited Excerpts:

Q: September quarter has been good for the company. How the sales have been in October and November and which segments are performing well? Also tell us about export, which has a contribution of around 70% to your revenues, where double-digit growth was seen in the last quarter and do you think that it will be maintained?

A: Regarding the Lincoln business, we have done good in every quarter. And, the results of this quarter will be 10%-15% better than the results of the last quarter. If we have a look on the October sales as compared to that result than it is around Rs 1-2 crore higher, i.e. it stands around 40-41 and it would be higher in November at around 42-43. A minimum growth of around 10%-12% will be seen in this quarter. If seen segment-wise, then antibiotic and anti-malarial products are being exported more. And products related to infection like Azithromycin and other major products are doing well. Then vitamins and immunity booster products are also doing well. Thus, products of these segments perform more nowadays.

Q: What kind of launches are you planning for the rest of the FY21? 

A: The new areas that we are exploring include African countries, EU countries and some countries of South-East Asia. Seeing the kind of business that is happening and orders on hand, it seems that 10%-15% growth will come from the new area. In the case of domestic, seven to eight products are in pipeline and it will be introduced in a very short time. So, in this calendar year at least 20-25 dossiers have been approved and exported and six-seven products will be introduced in the domestic market. Thus, the portfolio is also expanding and at the same time, the business geography will also expand. We are also growing in terms of figures and it is visible in the bottom-line. If you will look at it then we are improving when compared to the last year as well as the last three-four years. In fact, things are improving year-on-year. 

Q: What's the total Market for Vitamin C because its demand has increased amid the COVID? What kind of growth opportunities is visible in that particular segment and what kind of CapEx has been lined-up?

A: Vitamin C and other vitamin products market has turned into a huge market. If seen figure wise then earlier it was hardly a market of Rs 100-150 crore but now, it has turned into a market of more than Rs 2,000-3000 crore. And in this, those whose products are available and have a proper reach to the customer are doing good business in the segment. Our products are doing good and there is a 2000-3000 times growth when compared to the past.

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As far as CapEx is concerned, we are installing a new plant and the process has been started and we will make fresh investments of nearly Rs 35-40 crore this year and the next year and it will be done through internal accruals and will not seek any loan for the purpose.