Lotus Pharmaceutical, a major exporter of generic drugs, announced its first-quarter financial report on the 9th, with a net profit after tax of 1.036 billion NTD, down 13% year-on-year, and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 159%, with earnings per share (EPS) of 3.96. Lotus explained that the gross profit margin for the first quarter of this year was 55%, a 5 percentage point decrease from the first quarter of last year, mainly due to the launch of the high-margin blood cancer drug Lenalidomide 2.5 mg and 20 mg in March last year.
Lotus stated that the company's performance in the first quarter of this year was driven by export revenue from outside Asia, which decreased by 18% compared to the same period last year, mainly due to the launch of Lenalidomide 2.5 mg and 20 mg in the first quarter of last year, which raised the base period for last year. However, this was already within the company's estimates and does not affect the annual supply of blood cancer drugs in the U.S. market for 2024. Product revenue in export markets outside the United States showed a nearly 100% year-on-year growth, mainly contributed by the launch of Enzalutamide in EU countries and strong demand for Lenalidomide in Latin markets such as Brazil.
As for Lotus's Asian business, it still grew by 4% annually, mainly driven by growth in South Korea and Taiwan.
Resource (Mandarin)
