Mankind Pharma To Become Debt-Free In Three Years. MD Rajeev Juneja Explains How
Juneja said that the company will clear debts totaling Rs 10,000 crore in three years through measures such as a Rs 3,000-crore QIP and sale of non-core assets.
Mankind Pharma Ltd. aims to become a debt-free company within the next three years, Vice Chairman and Managing Director Rajeev Juneja has said.
In the second quarter of the current financial year, the pharmaceutical company posted a 28.9% rise in net profit to Rs 659 crore from Rs 511 crore a year ago.
Revenue from operations grew 13.6% year-on-year to Rs 3,077 crore in Q2FY25 from Rs 2,708 crore a year ago.
While Mankind Pharma is currently sitting on a debt of Rs 10,000 crore, Juneja told NDTV Profit that the company expects to clear all its existing debts in three years through various measures.
“In the next few weeks, hopefully in the middle of December, a Rs 3,000-crore QIP will happen. Plus, we have some non-core assets to the tune of Rs 500 crore to Rs 600 crore. They will be sold off and the money will go for the debt repayment,” he said.
“We are making quite a discipline that our debt-to-Ebitda (ratio) should not be more than two times,” Juneja noted.
On increasing revenues and Ebitda, the Mankind Pharma MD said that the target is to perform better than the market. “We always maintain one guideline, that we are supposed to perform better than the IPM (Indian pharmaceutical market), at about 1.3 to 1.4 times the IPM. That would be what we would basically want to maintain.”
Juneja added, “Plus, it's always good that you speak less and your actions will demonstrate more. The market likes that and we believe in that. That's the DNA of Mankind. Walk the talk.”
In the quarter ended Sept. 2024, the pharma company increased its exports by 57% to Rs 281 crore compared to Rs 179 crore in the year-ago period.
Shares of Mankind Pharma was trading 1.6% lower at Rs 2,683.30 apiece on the NSE as of 9:50 a.m. today, while the benchmark index Nifty 50 was 0.05% up at 24,211.
