Biocon Limited — Q1 FY25
Biocon's Q1 FY25 revenue from operations was flat YoY at INR 3,433 crore, with adjusted EBITDA of INR 698 crore (20% margin) and adjusted PAT of INR 19 crore.
neutral
medium
✓ Verified against BSE filing
Claim Ledger
Did management answer the analysts?
Every material analyst question, graded on whether management actually answered it — with the verbatim exchange and quantitative claims checked against filed numbers.
29%Questions answered6Evaded / deflected12Questions auditedContradictedNumbers vs filing
Partial answer
High priority
How is pricing tracking in biosimilars relative to market share changes?
Asked by Amey Chalke
Management gave qualitative assurance of stable pricing but no quantitative data on pricing trends.
no specific numbers givenqualitative only
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Question
But should we assume the similar improvement happening on the value of these products? Basically, how is the pricing tracking in these biosimilars vis-à-vis the market share change?
Shreehas Tambe, CEO and Managing Director, Biocon Biologics
In the U.S., we have seen that biosimilars have held on to their price, particularly those in the oncology space, for over five years, and this continue to hold value. So there is, of course, a competitive dynamics which will play off, but we expect a much more stable price pricing regimen than the other markets that are there.
Partial answer
High priority
Will value gain correspond to market share gain in biosimilars?
Asked by Amey Chalke
Acknowledged growth but did not quantify value gain relative to market share.
no quantificationgeneric statement
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Question
What I'm asking is, should we assume the value gain in these products, correspondingly the market share gain which is happening in these products, basically? Should we assume that sales to be increasing?
Shreehas Tambe, CEO and Managing Director, Biocon Biologics
Yeah, I think the way you would expect is that there will competitive dynamics will play out across markets as product mature. But we really feel that, you know, given the increased market shares, there will be a growth in the products and the revenues. Pricing will, of course, erode over a period of time.
Evasive
High priority
Any change in guidance due to delay in new product launches?
Asked by Amey Chalke
Refused to address guidance change, instead discussed market position.
no guidance givendeflected to qualitative positioning
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Question
So, assuming that then the Humira will get developed in the second half, is there any change in our guidance for this year, considering if there is any delay on the new product launches?
Shreehas Tambe, CEO and Managing Director, Biocon Biologics
I mean, we've not provided any guidance on the numbers at this point, to my knowledge. The way we see this is that, given that for adalimumab, we are in a very good position, that we are integrated.
Evasive
High priority
Timeline for implementation of measures from Bengaluru inspection?
Asked by Tushar Manudhane, Motilal Oswal
Did not provide a timeline, only said they are responding.
no timeline givendeferred to future
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Question
Sir, with respect to this inspection at Bengaluru, while the response has been submitted, can you share the timeline for implementation of the measures?
Shreehas Tambe, CEO and Managing Director, Biocon Biologics
We, as Peter explained in his opening comments, we did have the inspection from the agency last month, and we are in the process of responding to the agency with a very comprehensive CAPA plan. And that is within the stipulated timeline. So once we've done that, we should be in a position to outline next steps.
Evasive
High priority
Progress on Malaysia compliance and inspection timeline?
Asked by Tushar Manudhane, Motilal Oswal
No timeline given for inspection; deferred to agency action.
no timelinedeferred to agency
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Question
Progress on the Malaysia side, from a compliance point of view?
Shreehas Tambe, CEO and Managing Director, Biocon Biologics
On the Malaysia side, we are in the... We have responded to the observations that the agency had made, and we will be looking forward to them scheduling an inspection for us to move forward on that.
Partial answer
High priority
Scale-up expectations for generic liraglutide in H2 FY25?
Asked by Tushar Manudhane, Motilal Oswal
Gave qualitative growth expectation but no quantification of scale-up.
no specific numbersqualitative only
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Question
And just lastly, on this, generics, generic liraglutide and considering the business prospects for Biocon generics, how do we see, like, what kind of scale-up can be expected? If you could quantify, let's say second half FY 2025, we expect this business to scale up.
Siddharth Mittal, CEO and Managing Director, Biocon Limited
In terms of specific numbers or guidance, in terms of what the growth is, I think it'll be a bit difficult for us to give that. But definitely the first half will continue to be muted, as we have seen in first quarter, but second half, we will see a good growth over first half. Second half will be a significant growth over first half. But the overall year, we still expect like a high single digit kind of growth levels for the business.
Partial answer
High priority
Reason for sharp QoQ decline in BBL business?
Asked by Neha Manpuria, BofA
Explained factors but did not quantify the impact of each.
no split of decline between divestment and trends
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Question
Just to understand the BBL business a little bit more on a quarter-on-quarter basis. There seems to be a fairly sharp decline. I'm assuming a large part of this is because of the divestment. So if you could just give us some color in terms of how much of that decline that we're seeing quarter-on-quarter is because of the India business divestment versus, let's say, underlying business trends.
Shreehas Tambe, CEO and Managing Director, Biocon Biologics
I think as, Neha, as Peter outlined in his opening comments, the quarter-on-quarter decline, which you are seeing is, one, is to adjust for the branded formulation business, which is a discontinued business... The other piece, of course, is that, you will see a cyclical nature in terms of, how tenders will open up over the over the different emerging markets.
Evasive
High priority
Timelines for aflibercept launch given litigation?
Asked by Neha Manpuria, BofA
Refused to discuss timelines or launch plans due to ongoing litigation.
declined to comment due to litigation
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Question
Now we have the US FDA approval. Obviously, the lower court litigation didn't go our way. You know, what is the timelines that we need to monitor on this for the appeals, appeal for the, this one, and therefore, does the timeline of launch, based on how you're thinking about the appeal?
Shreehas Tambe, CEO and Managing Director, Biocon Biologics
Given that we are in a litigation right now, Neha, it wouldn't be appropriate to comment on this. I know you made a comment on how the litigation in the district court played out. There were three patents that were litigated. Two were ruled in our favor, one wasn't ruled in our favor, which of course, we will, you know, take up appropriately.
Answered
High priority
Net debt position for BBL and consolidated entity?
Asked by Neha Manpuria, BofA
Provided specific net debt figure for BBL and mentioned improvement.
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Question
What is the net debt position, in this quarter for the, for BBL as well as the consolidated entity? And, you know, if you could give us some color on, likely repayments, you know, in the next year.
Kedar Upadhye, CFO, Biocon Biologics
So, Neha, the net debt for BBL is about INR 1.2 billion, slightly higher than INR 1.2 billion. You would see a sequential improvement because of working capital efficiencies, which have come in this quarter.
Evasive
Medium priority
Competitive positioning for aflibercept in Europe?
Asked by Surya Patra, PhilipCapital
Avoided discussing Europe timeline, redirected to Canada.
declined to speculate on Europefocused on Canada
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Question
Could you share what is your competitive positioning there, considering the multiple approval already? And when do you think that benefit can start flowing in for us?
Shreehas Tambe, CEO and Managing Director, Biocon Biologics
I wouldn't speculate which market will open up first, other than the fact that Canada, we have a very clear market entry date, and we are the first to enter there. So that is one clarity. We do not also think, Surya, that, to our knowledge, there are multiple other players who have got approval.
Declined
High priority
Volume expectations for adalimumab in FY25/26?
Asked by Surya Patra, PhilipCapital
Explicitly declined to provide volume or market share guidance.
refused to give volume guidance
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Question
So based on this, is there a possibility to share that, okay, what are the kind of volumes here that we could be thinking about, let's say, for FY 25 or FY 26, whichever way that you can possibly share that?
Shreehas Tambe, CEO and Managing Director, Biocon Biologics
The first is we've not given guidance in terms of our projections in the past, and we continue to stay with this. It is, it's not advisable to give guidance on market shares. We will let you know as market evolves.
Partial answer
High priority
Reason for sharp decline in EBITDA margin this quarter?
Asked by Surya Patra, PhilipCapital
Stated margin is consistent with last year but did not explain the sharp decline from prior quarters.
attributed to business mix changeno explanation for decline
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Question
On the margin front, we have seen a sharp decline this quarter. Maybe it could be just a quarter-specific one, but this is the lowest ever margin over the last five years. How would you address this, Kedar?
Kedar Upadhye, CFO, Biocon Biologics
Yeah, so that we had said it is about 23%, and that's consistent with what we reported last year as well. So I think core EBITDA is healthy at 30%, EBITDA is at 23%. And you can't compare the margins for the last 5 years, because before FY 2023, business was different.
Quantitative claims vs filed numbers
| Claim | Management said | Filing | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core EBITDA margin 30%, EBITDA margin 23% | 23% | 18% | Overstated vs filing |
| High single digit growth for generics in FY25 | 7% | 0% | Overstated vs filing |
Filed figures sourced from Screener.in. Claims within a small tolerance of the filing are marked “matches filing”.