Initiating coverage | Pharma
July 6, 2017
Syngene International
BUY
CMP
`478
Target Price
`564
Setting the stage for capacity driven growth
Syngene is a Bengaluru based Custom Research Organisation. Company is in the
Investment Period
12 Months
Contract Research Outsourcing (CRO) business and has capacity to perform
Stock Info
discovery, pre-clinical and clinical research on potential drug candidates.
Sector
Pharmaceuticals
Unique investment opportunity in drug research business: While almost all Indian
Market Cap (` cr)
9,551
pharma companies are in generic drugs business, Syngene supports its clients to
Net Debt (` cr)
85
invent new drugs. It has 8 of the top 10 global pharma companies as its clients
Beta
1.0
and also has long term contracts with some big pharma companies. In our view
52 Week High / Low
663/402
Syngene provides a unique investing opportunity in drug research business.
Avg. Daily Volume
83,062
CRO is an attractive business: Syngene operates in an attractive business with
Face Value (`)
10
several growth drivers. The rising cost of drug research is a tailwind for the sector,
BSE Sensex
31,246
as this has prompted innovative pharma companies to outsource their R&D to low
Nifty
9,638
cost alternatives. Global R&D spends by pharma companies is set to grow from
$150bn in 2015 to $172bn in FY2020. The CRO industry is estimated to grow
Reuters Code
SYNN NS
from $31.4bn in 2015 to $56.4bn by 2020, indicating a rising pie of outsourcing
Bloomberg Code
SYNG IN
in the innovative R&D segment.
Syngene has constantly evolved to capture opportunities: Syngene has acquired a
Shareholding Pattern (%)
critical mass to become a sizable player in the industry. It is already witnessing a
Promoters
74.5
rise in the dedicated R&D centers. Moreover, with opening of new facilities, long
MF / Banks / Indian Fls
16.7
term contracts should increase going ahead. Company has capacity in both
FII / NRIs / OCBs
0.1
chemical and biologics drugs, and it is also forward integrating in API
manufacturing, which we believe is a scalable opportunity.
Indian Public / Others
8.6
Earnings expected to grow in FY2019E: Syngene reported weak performance in
FY2017 due to ~10% loss of facility in a fire incident in 3QFY2017. While this
Abs. (%)
3m 1yr
*2yr
would impact 1HFY2018E revenues, recovery is expected from 2HFY2018E. We
Sensex
4.2
15.0
12.1
expect FY2019E revenue/PAT/ROE at `1,829cr/ `418cr/21.6% respectively.
Syngene
(13.2)
10.0
53.8
* Since listing
Outlook & Valuation: At the CMP of `478, Syngene trades at 23.0x its
FY2019E EPS. We compare Syngene with its Chinese peer WuXi PharmaTech,
Price Chart
which before delisting, traded at ~24x. While WuXi’s growth was fueled by
acquisitions, Syngene’s is mostly an organic growth story and has headroom
700
600
for both organic (capacity utilization) and inorganic growth. We rate Syngene
500
‘Buy’ with Price Target of `564 (27.0x of FY2019E EPS).
400
Key Financials
300
Y/E March (` cr)
FY2016
FY2017
FY2018E
FY2019E
200
Net Sales
1,107
1,201
1,411
1,829
100
% chg
28.7
8.5
17.5
29.7
0
Net Profit
241
287
301
418
Aug-15
Jul-16
Jun-17
% chg
37.6
19.3
4.8
38.7
OPM (%)
34.4
33.9
32.3
36.4
Source: Company, Angel Research
EPS (Rs)
12.1
14.4
15.1
20.9
P/E (x)
39.5
33.2
31.7
22.9
P/BV (x)
9.3
7.4
6.1
4.9
RoE (%)
23.5
22.2
19.2
21.6
Shrikant Akolkar
RoCE (%)
14.8
13.9
12.9
17.3
022 - 3935 7800 Ext: 6846
EV/Sales (x)
8.8
8.0
7.1
5.5
[email protected]
EV/EBITDA (x)
25.6
23.6
21.9
15.1
Source: Company, Angel Research; Note: CMP as of July 5, 2017
Please refer to important disclosures at the end of this report
1
Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Company background
Company overview
Established in 1994, Syngene International Limited is one of India’s largest and
Asia’s second largest Contract Research Organizations (CRO). It is a full service
CRO and provides the entire services basket for drug development, from discovery
to development stage and also has small scale manufacturing facility to support
clinical trial level supplies. Syngene has established a robust track record across
the discovery and development chain and has established itself as a leading CRO.
The company offers its services for novel molecular entities (NMEs) across
industrial sectors like pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, etc.
Along with small molecule development, Syngene offers biologics discovery and
development platforms, which contribute significantly to the R&D efforts of
biotechnology focused partners.
Company offers these services through flexible business models ranging from a
Full-Time-Equivalent (FTE) to a Fee-For-Service (FFS) model or a suitable model
customized for client’s requirement. Company has been able to grow its customer
base from 104 in 2011 to over 300 in March 2017, which includes major global
biopharma companies and a number of mid-sized biotech and pharma firms and
several small and virtual enterprises.
It has facilities audited by US FDA, EMA, AAALAC and major life sciences partners.
Company employs more than 3,300 employees of whom ~85% are scientists with
Doctorate or Masters Degree.
Services overview
Dedicated R&D centers: Involves long-term strategic collaborations, usually five
years or longer and involves setting up dedicated customized infrastructure with a
dedicated team of scientists.
Exhibit 1: Syngene’s five dedicates research centres
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Baxter International
Abbott Laboratories
Amgen
Herblife
>400 scientists
~150 scientists
~30 scientists
>100 scientists
~3,000sqft facility
Operational since
Operational since
Operational since 2009
Started in 2016 Started in 2017
2013
2012
Parenteral nutrition and
Focus on maternal, pediatric,
Developed 9 drug candidates
4 year contract Nutrition research centre
renal therapy research
neo-natal nutrition and diabetes
Source: Company
Discovery research services: This includes multiple client engagements across
discovery chemistry and discovery biology segments. This vertical has shown
promising growth in the discovery biology mirroring global trend.
Product development and manufacturing services: This vertical offers services when
molecules move to pre-clinical and clinical studies and includes manufacturing of
molecules for studies. This segment has seen growth due to the chemical
development, as large number of client projects have moved in the later stages of
research.
July 6, 2017
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Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Syngene story in tables and charts
Exhibit 2: Business mix (1QFY2017)
Exhibit 3: Addition in new clients
350
Other
income, 8%
300
250
Dedicated
200
Development
Development
centers, 31%
and
and
150
Manufacturing
manufacturin
35%
100
g, 35%
Discovery
50
services,
0
26%
FY12
FY13
FY14
FY15
FY16
FY17
Source: Data as per 1QFY17 transcript, Angel Research
Source: Company, Angel Research
Exhibit 4: 25% CAGR in net sales (FY2011-17)
Exhibit 5: EBITDA margin improvement from 31% to 34%
1,400
32%
35%
35%
29%
29%
27%
1,200
30%
34%
23%
1,000
21%
25%
33%
800
20%
32%
600
8%
15%
31%
400
10%
30%
200
5%
29%
0
0%
28%
FY11
FY12
FY13
FY14
FY15
FY16
FY17
FY11
FY12
FY13
FY14
FY15
FY16
FY17
Net Sales
YoY growth
Source: Company, Angel Research
Source: Company, Angel Research
Exhibit 6: Increasing employee strength
Exhibit 7: Evolution of Syngene International
Year
Milestone
4,000
1994
Syngene starts operations
3,500
3,000
1999
Expansion of R&D lab
2,500
2000
Foray in clinical research
2,000
2001
Dedicated chemical development facility
1,500
2003
Moves in 63K sqft facility
1,000
2007
Expansion to 148k sqft facility, BMS contract
500
2009
Initiated large molecules development services
0
2010
Operations in formulation development
2011
Contract with Endo Pharmaceuticals
2012
Contract with Abbott, Acquisition of Clinigene
Source: Company, Angel Research
2013
Contract with Baxter
2014
Contract with Bristol-Myers Squibb
2015
IPO and listing, $200 Mn capex announced
2016
Amgen research centre, fire in one of the facility
2017
Herblife research centre
Source: Company, Angel Research
July 6, 2017
3
Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Investment Rationale
CRO Industry - Dynamic with secular growth drivers
CROs (Custom Research Organizations) offer outsourced research services to
companies in various sectors, especially those in the pharma and biotech
industries. CROs depend upon the R&D spending by the innovator companies. The
innovator companies are consistently spending on research to discover and
develop new drugs, however the rising cost of research puts pressure on their
profitability. Custom research industry emerged out of this need to reduce the
research costs of innovators.
This is a very fragmented industry with thousands of CROs globally. However, top
10 companies hold the maximum market share (in 2014, top 10 CROs held 53%
market share). According to Frost & Sullivan, the CRO market size was ~$20.6bn
in 2011, which is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 11.8% to reach at ~$56.4bn by
2020P. Out of the total $150bn spending on R&D by the global innovator
companies in 2015, $31.8bn was outsourced to the CROs, however, the potential
to outsource the R&D was $110bn. This penetration of ~21% is expected to rise to
~33% by 2020, when global pharma R&D expenses would rise to $172bn.
Exhibit 8: CRO market to grow at 11.8%
Exhibit 9: Penetration of CRO services to rise to 46%
60
200
50
40
50
150
40
30
100
30
20
20
50
10
10
0
0
0
2015
2020
Pharma - R&D spending
Outsourcing potential
CRO size
CRO market
Penetration (%)
Source: Angel Research
Source: Angel Research
R&D - Pharma’s key growth driver: The success of a Pharma Company lies in its
ability to discover new drugs that can treat diseases better than the existing drugs.
New drugs can be potential blockbusters (>$1bn annual sales) and hold a key to
superior profitability. The future R&D budgets also depend upon the success of the
drugs that are already in the pipeline; therefore, the success of R&D is paramount
in the pharma business.
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Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Exhibit 10: Drug discovery to approval - process and timeline
Source: Pharmaexams.com, Angel Research
Drug discovery and development is a prolonged process, which on an average,
takes more than a decade to get a drug from discovery to commercial
manufacturing stage. It also requires several thousand of potential compounds to
be studied in the beginning of the discovery phase. From these thousands of
compounds, very few compounds enter in the clinical trials stage, of which only
one or two can get to the final stage, i.e. drug approval from the regulator. The
clinical studies require manufacturing of a drug at the highest quality in adequate
quantity to support the trials, hence, companies are also required to have pilot
level manufacturing capability during the clinical trial stages.
Exhibit 11: Drug development stages
Discovery Services
Preclinical Services
Clinical Trials
Drug approval
Laboratory and animal
Narrow down from
Studies in humans to
INDs are filed with regulator for new drug
experimentation of the
thousands of compounds
determine the safety, efficacy
application (NDA) or Biologic License
preclinical
to a few hundred and
and suitable drug dosage of
Application (BLA). Post approval, company
drug candidates and get
identify promising
INDs, trials happen in several
start manufacturing and selling the drug in
data on safety and efficacy
possibilities.
stages.
the market.
on animal models.
Source: Company
To get these studies, innovator drug companies employ teams of doctors and
researchers. Companies are also required to perform the clinical studies of varying
sizes and sometimes in different countries. Companies typically spend more than
$1bn on new drug development; however, this does not guarantee success of the
R&D, as company can be forced to abandon the studies due to reasons like results
not meeting endpoints, safety and efficacy issues, approval of a better product by
competitors, etc. Over the years, the drug development costs have seen a huge
inflation with the total cost to develop a drug increasing from $140mn in mid
1970s to nearly ~$1.2bn in early 2000.
While the drug development costs continue to soar, the probability of moving the
drug from Phase 1 Clinical trial to approval stage remains another challenging
factor for the drug companies. More complex the disease, less is the probability of
getting a drug approval.
July 6, 2017
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Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Exhibit 12: Complex diseases = low approval probability
Exhibit 13: Soaring drug development costs
Probability of Approval (%) from Phase I to approval
1,400
1,200
30
25
1,000
20
800
15
10
600
5
400
0
200
320
800
1,200
140
0
Mid-1970s
Mid-1980s
Late-1990s
Early-2000s
Series1
Source: Bio.org, Angel Research
Source: Company
R&D spending continues to grow: Owing to the pharma company’s focus on
inventing new drugs, the pharma companies spend a huge amount on their R&D.
Some companies spend as high as 8-9% of their sales on R&D. From 2010 to
2015, total R&D spends by pharma companies grew from $130bn to $150bn, at
a CAGR of ~2.9%. Going ahead, this spending is expected to grow at a CAGR of
2.8% to reach ~$172bn by 2020E.
Exhibit 14: Growing R&D spending
Exhibit 15: Healthy Investigational New Drug Pipeline
200
8,000
180
7,000
160
6,000
140
5,000
120
4,000
100
3,000
80
60
2,000
40
1,000
20
0
0
Drug INDs Biolobic INDs
Source: Statista.com, Angel Research
Source: USFDA, Angel Research
Exhibit 16: NDA and BLA approvals
Exhibit 17: Total new drug Filings (NDA+BLA)
60
60
50
50
40
40
30
30
20
10
20
0
10
0
NDA Approvals
BLA Approvals
Source: USFDA, NDA: New Drug Approval, BLA: Biologic License Approval)
Source: USFDA
The steady rate of drug approvals by the USFDA (NDA and BLAs) and higher
biologic drugs sales are the main drivers for R&D spending.
July 6, 2017
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Initiating coverage | Syngene International
R&D outsourcing - A transformation gradually picking up in life sciences: The life
sciences industry has been under pressure due to the increasing generic drugs
penetration, declining profitability, poor shareholder returns and lower efficiency of
the in-house R&D. Life sciences companies have been realizing the need to alter
their operating methods and responding accordingly. As a part of this, life sciences
companies first started to outsource their manufacturing process and have been
successful in their strategy. The next thing they can outsource is R&D, which they
have been extremely reluctant to do.
For the life science companies, R&D is the critical part, as it involves the sensitive
information of their intellectual properties. However, there are not many ways with
which life sciences companies can cut costs on sustained basis and R&D
outsourcing is gaining popularity. The rising penetration of the CRO industry is a
testimony of this changing mindset of the life science companies towards R&D
outsourcing.
The clinical trials saw the first wave of outsourcing and saw companies like
Quintiles, Covance, Parexel, Charles River, InVentive Health, etc. getting the big
revenue pie. The clinical trial outsourcing has become so successful that about
3/4th of the total clinical trials are carried out by the professional CROs.
Exhibit 18: Dependence of Bio-pharma Companies on outsourcing services
Source: PAREXEL presentation, Angel Research
The R&D outsourcing, especially in the biopharma space has seen huge strides
with the small biopharma companies being almost fully reliant on the outsourced
services, while the large biopharma companies increasing their exposure to the
outsourcing services.
We believe that similar wave of outsourcing is currently taking place in the early
stage R&D; and going by the experience in clinical trials outsourcing, in few years,
most of the discovery stage research could be carried by the CROs. Within that,
companies with capability from drug discovery to development stage including
clinical trials would be most preferred. Cost arbitration would be an added
advantage for the life sciences companies, and this is where the market is likely to
move going ahead.
CRO business models: CRO services typically range from preclinical stage until
approval stage including ability to pilot level manufacturing capability to support
clinical trials. CROs with all the above capabilities are called as full service CROs
and not all CROs are full service CROs. Contrary to this, there are specialty CROs
July 6, 2017
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Initiating coverage | Syngene International
who have limited capability, however, are flexible in services. Full service CROs are
the ‘One Stop Shop’ which handle end to end services, have the experience in
diverse services and scale-up capability. Most CRO service providers specialize on
the needs of their clients and the market in which they operate i.e. 1) discovery 2)
development, and 3) manufacturing.
Full service CROs are mostly preferred by the large companies, while the specialty
CROs are best suited for the small companies. The CRO’s in Asia Pacific are also
seeing a growth traction with a total 18% of market share in 2014.
Exhibit 19: CRO industry revenue share by geography
Rest of World
4%
Asia Pacific
18%
North America
45%
Europe
33%
Source: Syngene RHP
What is the growth potential of CRO industry? The CRO industry has been growing
at a healthy rate of 10-11% over the last five years. With the secular growth
drivers, the industry is expected to continue growing by 11-12%. With the
increasing number of companies looking to outsource their R&D, penetration of
R&D outsourcing is expected to increase. It is expected that the R&D outsourcing
penetration will increase by about 100-200bps each year with the CRO services
penetration moving towards ~60% in the long term. The Discovery services,
Clinical trials and Clinical services are expected to grow by 11.5%, 11.9% and
13.5% respectively. Within the industry, the bigger CROs are expected to grow
faster either due to inorganic avenues or due to the gaining market share. There is
also growing demand for the services from the Asia Pacific countries, due to the
cost arbitrage over the local players.
Exhibit 20: CRO Industry Growth
CRO Industry size ($bn)
Year
Discovery Services
Preclinical Services
Clinical Trials
#Clinical services
2014
14.7
3.8
15.5
9.2
2018
22.7
4.6
24.7
15.2
CAGR (%
11.5
5.2
11.9
13.5
Source: Syngene RHP - Combined estimates by IQ4I and Frost & Sullivan, #Includes Bioanalytics, Biostatistics, Pharmacovigilance, Data management, etc.
In a nutshell, CRO is an exciting and attractive space to be in. The entire space is
undergoing a strong growth and due to the secular growth drivers, the growth is in
the range of 11-12%, and is expected to be maintained going ahead due to with
the continued spending of pharma companies on R&D, and higher penetration of
CRO services.
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Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Syngene - Poised for capex driven growth
One-Stop-Shop, an attractive business model: Over the years, Syngene has
evolved as a full service CRO having both chemical and biologics capabilities.
Company operates a flexible business model called as plug and play. This model
has several entry points for the clients to initiate their work at any stage of the drug
development cycle at Syngene.
It offers a complete set up of client’s R&D through dedicated centers and can also
work on standalone contracts. Company offers two types of contracts i.e. 1) Fee-
For-Service (FFS), and
2) Full-Time-Equivalent (FTE). These contracts are
customized as per the client’s requirement.
We believe that this flexible model has been attractive for its clients, which has
translated in the superior growth for the company. Client additions have been
strong with total clients going up from 104 in FY2011 to over 300 in FY2017.
Company now has 8 of the top 10 global pharmaceutical companies as its clients.
With the biologic drugs seeing increased indications and a strong growth traction
globally, biologics make an important business segment for Syngene. In the last
few years, company has been investing more on the biologics side and has
completed acquisition of Strand Life Sciences in the bioinformatics space widening
its services basket. Recently, it has also commissioned viral testing capacity, which
also further enhances its offerings.
Syngene is gradually becoming a one stop shop for its clients with capabilities
ranging from discovery to development. Within the next three years, company will
foray in commercial manufacturing with completion of its Mangalore API
manufacturing facility in FY2020. With the commercial research and
manufacturing capability, Syngene appears to be even more attractive proposition
for its clients, as due to its know-how of the manufacturing process of the
molecules, which get researched at Syngene’s research facilities.
Exhibit 21: Plug and play business model
Source: Company, Angel Research
Attractive cost arbitrage for innovators- Syngene’s business model gives a lot of
cost arbitration to its clients. The big pharma companies spend about $200k-
$240K per annum, per scientist. The average salary of scientists in China is ~90K-
$100K per year. The average annual salary of $60,000 offered in India gives a lot
July 6, 2017
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Initiating coverage | Syngene International
of cost arbitrage opportunity for the innovators. Syngene’s pricing per scientist is
30-40% below its Chinese counterparts and ~70% lower than big pharma
companies.
With the pharma companies relooking at their cost structure, outsourcing at the
low cost but with the equivalent quality will be a key differentiator. Syngene derives
a huge cost arbitrage over its US and Chinese counterparts, and this has
benefitted the company in attracting more clients. This benefit is expected to
continue, as there is a lot of headroom left, which will continue to be an attractive
proposition for its clients.
Company also has pricing power to the tune of 3-4% price hikes every very, and
hence, we believe that Syngene is likely be derive benefits (getting more dedicated
R&D centers, long term relationships, more R&D outsourcing contracts, etc.) going
ahead.
Exhibit 22: Average annual salary per scientist
$250,000
$200,000
$200,000
$150,000
$100,000
$100,000
$60,000
$50,000
$0
Syngene
China
Big pharma companies
Source: Company, Angel Research
Dedicated centers - strong operating leverage play for future: Syngene currently
has 5 dedicated R&D centers for the global pharma companies. Dedicated centers
are the long term contracts, which offer flexibility and cost reduction to the
innovators.
Exhibit 23: Syngene’s five dedicates research centres
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Baxter International
Abbott Laboratories
Amgen
Herblife
>400 scientists
~150 scientists
~30 scientists
>100 scientists
~3,000sqft facility
Operational since
Set-up since
Started in
Operational since 2009
Started in 2016
2013
2012
2017
Parenteral nutrition and
Focus on maternal, pediatric,
Developed 9 drug candidates
4 year contract Nutrition research centre
renal therapy research
neo-natal nutrition and diabetes
Source: Company
Dedicated centers are the second largest revenue contributors for Syngene,
however, we believe that this business is set to become the largest business
segment in the next few years. The dedicated centers at the end of FY2017
contributed 33-35% of revenues v/s. ~32% in FY2016. In FY2017, company has
seen addition of two new clients in dedicated centers, which will see a meaningful
contribution in the revenues from the dedicated centers in FY2018E onwards.
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Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Dedicated centers help Syngene to build its repute in the fragmented CRO market.
A strong brand name will be a key to attract more clients and long term contracts
in our opinion. Company already has 8 of the top 10 pharma companies as its
clients and growing brand equity is likely to add more dedicated centers going
ahead.
Discovery research - The shining spot: While the separate revenue split is not
available for biology and chemical discovery services, we believe that the company
is seeing a strong traction in the discovery biologics business. We estimate 17-18%
growth in this business in FY2017 v/s. 9% growth in Syngene’s net sales in
FY2017. Within this segment, we believe that biologics is seeing a strong traction,
in-line with the current trend in the global healthcare sector. Company has
indicated that ~50% of the clients’ research pipeline is in the biologics drugs,
which gives a glimpse that the biologics is where the future of Syngene lies.
Discovery services business is likely a feeder segment for the other services
(development and manufacturing) hence, the growth of this segment is extremely
important for Syngene. Increasing traction in the discovery services indicate a
sustained momentum for other businesses, as molecules that get cleared in the
discovery stage, would pass to the development/clinical trials stage. While this is
not guaranteed, probability is that a few molecules would proceed to the next level
i.e. development. The company has indicated that margin profile goes up once
molecules move from discovery stage to development and manufacturing stage.
Hence, we believe that the growing discovery business is an indication of a sound
future business opportunity and better margins.
Exhibit 24: Discovery services: 200bps jump in Syngene’s revenue mix
100%
2%
6%
80%
43%
36%
60%
23%
25%
40%
20%
32%
33%
0%
FY16
FY17
Dedicated Centers
Discovery services
Development & manufacturing Other income
Source: Company, Angel Research, #Dedicated centers ~33-35% of revenue in FY17
API manufacturing - forward integration and scalable opportunity: Syngene’s
development and manufacturing business is the largest segment and contributed
~36% to its FY2017 revenues. The work in this segment is drug development like
clinical trials and commercial manufacturing in low volumes. This segment is
expected to see strong growth with company moving in the forward integration
through its API facility in Mangalore.
Globally, most contract research organizations focus on research related work,
Syngene however, is looking beyond CRO business to become a meaningful
Contract Manufacturing Organization. This forward integration capability will have
July 6, 2017
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Initiating coverage | Syngene International
rich rewards for the company, as API manufacturing is a scalable opportunity. The
company will focus on the molecules of its partners, which means that company
already knows the manufacturing process and technical knowhow, which we
believe is additional lever for margin boost.
Company has indicated that the late stage molecules have high potential to enter
in commercial manufacturing. It has also said that contracts for two chemical
molecules are already in place and company is currently supplying these
molecules in small volumes. The NDA approval for these two molecules will be a
very important trigger for the manufacturing segment.
This API manufacturing facility is a part of $200mn capex plan and will be
operational by 1HFY2020E. The facility was earlier expected to be operational by
end of FY2019E however, has been delayed due to the environment clearances
and company is sure to get this in-line by FY20E.
Investing in new capacities: CROs are required to expand their capacities and also
invest in the new capabilities/technologies. In this sense, CROs are constantly in
the capacity expansion mode and failure in doing so means stagnant growth.
Syngene has also been constantly investing in capacities, this has helped it to
maintain the growth momentum and richly outperform the CRO industry growth.
Company in FY2016 announced a $200mn capex plan, which is biggest so far, to
be executed between FY2017-19. This includes expansion of its research
capabilities as well as investing in new API manufacturing capacity. While the
earlier capex plans focused on augmenting the capacities, this time, company is
investing 50% of the capex on building the commercial manufacturing capacity.
Exhibit 25: Break-up of $200mn capex plan
Capacity
Location Capex Amount
Description
Capacity opening
Biologics Manufacturing
5x increase in its biologics manufacturing facility
Operational
Formulation Centre
Bangalore
$100mn
Clinical and commercial supplies in small volumes
Operational
Research Centre
0.2mn sqft facility to support the discovery programs
50K sqft. operational
Commercial Manufacturing Mangalore
$100Mn
Manufacturing of of API and intermediaries of novel molecules Operational in FY20
Source: Company, Angel Research
Despite this, the current capex plan is its biggest plan if we consider that $100mn
is allocated towards adding new capabilities, which will strengthen its integrated
platform. In this capex plan, company is also increasing its offerings in
oligonucleotide manufacturing, viral testing and antibody-drug conjugates.
Besides, company has also recently acquired the Bioiformatics capability from
Strand Life Sciences. The global Bioinformatics market was ~$10bn in 2013,
which is growing at a CAGR of 15%. The acquisition of Bioinformatics capability
opens up another area of growth for the company.
July 6, 2017
12
Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Exhibit 26: New technologies/capabilities to increase service offerings
Technology
Description
Application
Viral testing
Test the viral contamination
Biologic drugs
Oligonucleotide manufacturing
Manufacturing of Synthetic DNA/RNA materials
Drug development
Antibody-drug conjugates
Create efficient monoclonal antibody by attaching cell-killing agents
Cancer treatment
Bioinformatics
Analysis of data generated in drug development
Biologic drugs
Source: Company, Angel Research
While the revenue potential of these new technologies cannot be estimated, these
services increase the service offerings of Syngene.
Syngene is best placed amongst its peers: A comparative study of Syngene v/s. its
peers indicates that Syngene is best placed among other CROs in the industry.
While the cost advantage and access to the huge pool of science graduates is a
strong advantage, Syngene also has a broad range of offerings and has superior
financial performance than peers.
Exhibit 27: Syngene, best placed amongst its competitors
Dev./Clinical
Revenue
EBITDA margin
Average ROE
Peer
Discovery
API manufacturing
stage
CAGR 5yr
(5 yr avg.)
(5 yr)
Syngene International
Yes
Yes
By FY20E
28%
33%
21%
# WuXi
Yes
Yes
Yes
13.1%
23.8%
18.7%
Covance +
No
Yes
No
11.2%
15.1%
17.0%
Lab Corp. of America
Icon Plc
No
Yes
No
12.0%
17.1%
19.5%
Charles River
Yes
Yes
No
8.0%
21.1%
18.4%
Parexel International
No
Yes
No
11.6%
13.4%
19.4%
$Quintile
No
Yes
No
7.6%
16.2%
NA
*INC Research
No
Yes
No
19.7%
12.7%
NA
Source:# Bloomberg estimates, Individual annual fillings of companies, Angel Research, * INC research has recently turned profitable, $Quintiles data for
2011-2015
Due to the attractiveness of the industry, M&A activity has been very active. The
CRO sector has seen consolidation in the last few years with bigger players like
Covance, WuXi, Quintiles, etc. getting acquired. Parexel is also in advanced
stages to get acquired by Pamplona Capital for $5 billion (deal to be completed by
4Q2017).
We believe that Syngene has capabilities at par with its peers and has also
outperformed bigger competitors on growth and returns front. We also believe that
this strong performance is expected to continue with increased service offerings,
new capex and foray in the API manufacturing.
July 6, 2017
13
Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Financial performance
Fire incident impacted FY2017 Financial performance: For most of the period
since existence, Syngene has maintained a strong yoy growth of more than 20%.
Between FY2011-16, company reported a strong growth CAGR of 28%; during
this period company also spent ~`700cr in capex, which helped it to achieve this
superior growth. The growth however, slowed down in FY2017 due to the fire
incident at one of its Chemical and analytical facility (S2 block) in December 2017.
The fire impacted ~10% of its capacity and also led to a loss of one client with
annual revenue potential of ~`40cr (~3% of FY2017 annual revenue). The
company has indicated that the `80cr damage to its facility is fully recoverable
through the insurance claim and the claim settlement would happen in 2HFY18E.
Though company moved projects from the damaged facility to other facilities or
newly created facilities, the impact was enough to pull down its full year yoy growth
to 8%. Despite efforts to minimize the fire impact, company expects the impact to
last until 3QFY2018E. On this basis, FY2018E is expected to be a slow growth
year. In our opinion, addition of two dedicated centers and Canadian biotech
client, addition of new capacities and foray in newer technology, would enable the
company to observe lower impact of fire incident in FY2018E.
Syngene expected to return to high growth path in FY2019E: Syngene reported a
poor revenue growth in FY2017 due to the fire incident. In the first three quarters,
company reported a double digit growth but the fourth quarter revenue growth
was negative, as this quarter fully absorbed the impact of the fire incident. The
company has indicated that the fire incident will impact the near term growth
outlook, however expects ~20% revenue growth in FY2018E on the back of
capacity additions that took place in FY2017, addition of new dedicated centers
and a Canadian client in biotech space and overall growth momentum in the
biologics. We expect Syngene’s FY18E revenue to grow by 17% to `1,411cr.
Exhibit 28: Syngene’s revenue to rebound in FY2018E
2,000
32%
35%
29%
30%
1,800
29%
27%
30%
1,600
23%
1,400
25%
21%
1,200
17%
20%
1,000
15%
800
8%
600
10%
400
5%
200
0
0%
FY11
FY12
FY13
FY14
FY15
FY16
FY17
FY18E FY19E
Net Sales
YoY growth
Source: Company, Angel Research
FY2019E is expected to see a strong rebound in revenues. We observe that new
facilities take 2-3 years to achieve a 1.0x asset turnover indicating that company is
likely to see a very significant growth over the next 3 years (FY2018-21) owing to
capacities added in the last year. On the back of this strong operating leverage,
July 6, 2017
14
Initiating coverage | Syngene International
we expect ~30% growth in FY2019E revenues. We also believe that the growth
momentum is sustainable beyond FY2021E with the addition of new API facility
and supply agreement with partners for late stage molecules.
Margins to remain under pressure in FY2018E: Syngene has indicated of higher
spends on safety, compliance and business development, which will decline its
operating margins by 200-300bps in FY2018E. In FY2016, company reported
EBITDA margins of 34.4%, which dropped to 33.9% in FY2017. We expect
FY2018E margins at 32.3%, ~200bps below FY2016 margins. FY2019E margins
however, should make a strong recovery to ~36.1%. We observe that company
saw a strong improvement in the EBITDA margins over FY2014-16 owing to the
strong business momentum and addition of two dedicated centers. The momentum
is continued and the company added new clients in FY2017, hence we remain
optimistic of recovery.
Exhibit 29: EBIDTA Margin to recover in FY2019E
40.0%
FY16-FY18E - ~200bps decline in EBITDA
38.0%
margins, FY19E- margin recovery
36.0%
34.0%
32.0%
30.0%
28.0%
26.0%
24.0%
22.0%
20.0%
FY13
FY14
FY15
FY16
FY17
FY18E
FY19E
EBITDA margins
Source: Company, Angel Research
Healthy ROE profile to be maintained: We expect company to maintain a healthy
ROE profile going ahead. FY2018E is expected to see decline in the ROE and
ROIC ratios, however the same is expected to rebound in FY2019E. We expect
FY2018E and FY2019E ROE to be at ~18.9% and 21.1% respectively. Company
has a healthy balance sheet with total cash and investments of more than `1,000cr
and debt of ~`800cr and debt-to-equity ratio of 0.6x.
Exhibit 30: 1.5x of FY2017 PAT by FY2019E
Exhibit 31: ROE recovery in FY2019E
450
43.8
411
50.0
25.0
400
45.0
37.6
350
40.0
20.0
32.0
296
29.8
287
35.0
300
39.0
241
30.0
250
15.0
175
19.3
25.0
200
135
20.0
150
102
10.0
15.0
100
10.0
2.9
50
5.0
5.0
-
0.0
FY13
FY14
FY15
FY16
FY17
FY18E FY19E
0.0
PAT
YoY change
Source: Company, Angel Research
Source: Company, Angel Research
July 6, 2017
15
Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Outlook & Valuation
Since the fire incident at the Bangalore facility, Syngene’s shares have fallen by
25%, underperforming the broader market, which was up ~18% during the same
period. At the CMP of `478, Syngene trades at 22.9x of its FY2019E earnings.
While this valuation is in-line with its peers, there is no exact comparable listed
peer. Chinese company WuXi PharmaTech (which was a public company until
2015) has similar business model to Syngene (API manufacturing + formulations
+discovery chemical and discovery biology business). WuXi was acquired for $3.3
billion by a consortium led by its promoters who have taken the company private.
At this price ($46 per American depository Share), WuXi’s PE multiple works out to
be between 23-24x. We also note that WuXi’s growth was fueled by inorganic
means of growth.
We also look at the Parexel International acquisition by private-equity firm
Pamplona Capital Management. According to our estimates, at $88.10 per share,
Pamplona Capital has valued Parexel International at ~25-26x of its forward
earnings.
While Syngene appears to be currently trading in its peer’s range, we believe that
Syngene deserves a premium. While saying so, we consider following factors 1)
foray in the API manufacturing, which will be scalable and long term sustainable
opportunity; 2) wide array of services, especially in biologic research; 3) high
exposure to the growing biologics segment; 4) $200mn capex plan, which creates
operating leverage; and 5) promoters strong background and consistency in
delivering results. We also consider that the Syngene’s growth so far is mostly
organic and any material acquisition will lead to faster growth. The CRO sector is
seeing an influx of M&A activity, which also indicates that there is a lot of growth
potential in this sector.
During the last two years, Syngene has traded at an average PE multiple of ~29x
and current valuation seems to offer a good margin of safety. We value Syngene
at 27.0x of its FY2019E EPS of ` 21 to arrive at a price target of `564. This
valuation is ~13% premium to WuXi’s transaction multiple and at par with the
Parexel’s transaction multiple.
July 6, 2017
16
Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Risks to Our Estimates
High client concentration - Syngene derives 3/4th of its revenue from the top
10 clients. This is also true with some bigger CROs as well, hence we believe
this is an industry standard. Despite this, loss of any big client may lead to
significant decline in its revenue.
Regulatory approvals - Syngene is in the pharmaceutical drug research and
clinical trials business.
Company is also planning to add commercial
manufacturing facility. Failure to get timely regulatory approvals for its
facilities may result in loss of clients/revenue, which can significantly impact its
share price.
Failure of client’s drug candidates to get a regulatory approval: Syngene is
dependent upon its clients for business. Client’s failure to get an approval for
their drugs at various stages of clinical trials may lead to reduced business
opportunities, and hence, lower revenues to Syngene.
July 6, 2017
17
Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Exhibit 32: Income Statement
Y/E March (`cr)
FY15
FY16
FY17
FY18E
FY19E
Total operating income
860
1,107
1,201
1,411
1,829
% chg
22.9
28.7
8.5
17.5
29.7
Total Expenditure
579
727
793
956
1,163
Cost of Materials
239
310
322
392
488
Personnel
202
249
309
348
412
Others Expenses
138
167
163
216
263
EBITDA
281
380
408
455
666
% chg
31.1
35.3
7.2
11.6
46.3
(% of Net Sales)
32.7
34.4
33.9
32.3
36.4
Depreciation& Amortisation
81
97
114
149
193
EBIT
200
283
293
306
473
% chg
34.2
41.8
3.6
4.3
54.5
(% of Net Sales)
23.2
25.6
24.4
21.7
25.8
Interest & other Charges
8
8
18
20
20
Other Income
12
6
71
73
51
(% of PBT)
5.7
2.2
20.4
20.3
10.1
Recurring PBT
204
281
347
359
503
% chg
29.9
38.1
23.3
3.5
40.4
Prior Period & Extra. Exp./(Inc.)
-
-
-
-
-
PBT (reported)
204
281
347
359
503
Tax
29
40
59
57
86
(% of PBT)
14.0
14.3
17.1
16.0
17.0
PAT (reported)
175
241
287
301
418
Add: Share of earnings of asso.
-
-
-
-
-
Less: Minority interest (MI)
-
-
-
-
-
PAT after MI (reported)
175
241
287
301
418
ADJ. PAT
175
241
287
301
418
% chg
29.8
37.6
19.3
4.8
38.7
(% of Net Sales)
20.4
21.8
23.9
21.3
22.8
Basic EPS (`)
9.0
12.4
14.8
15.5
21.5
Fully Diluted EPS (`)
8.8
12.1
14.4
15.1
20.9
% chg
29.8
37.6
18.8
4.8
38.7
July 6, 2017
18
Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Balance Sheet Statement
Y/E March (` cr)
FY15
FY16
FY2017P
FY18E
FY19E
SOURCES OF FUNDS
Equity Share Capital
199.1
200.0
200.0
200.0
200.0
Reserves& Surplus
645.8
824.7
1,092.6
1,364.7
1,733.9
Shareholders’ Funds
845
1,025
1,293
1,565
1,934
Minority Interest
-
-
-
-
-
Total Loans
155.0
891.0
821.8
802.3
802.3
Other long-term liabilities
64.7
53.5
51.7
67.7
87.8
Long-term provisions
13.2
18.1
19.9
22.6
29.3
Total Liabilities
1,078
1,987
2,186
2,457
2,853
APPLICATION OF FUNDS
Gross Block
938.0
1,111.4
1,439.9
1,863.1
2,411.9
Less: Acc. Depreciation
434.7
531.2
645.5
794.6
987.5
Net Block
503
580
794
1,069
1,424
Capital Work-in-Progress
105.1
236.8
174.9
400.0
350.0
Investments
146.0
276.6
300.2
352.7
457.3
Other noncurrent assets
227.3
134.1
170.5
200.3
259.7
Current Assets
440
1,058
1,097
845
914
Inventories
38.4
37.7
32.2
46.4
60.1
Sundry Debtors
179.9
185.2
198.7
255.1
340.8
Cash
115.7
719.9
736.8
391.2
315.4
Loans & Advances
33.8
31.9
36.0
42.3
54.9
Other Assets
72.0
83.4
93.7
110.0
142.7
Current liabilities
338.8
370.2
423.1
481.0
623.7
Net Current Assets
101
688
674
364
290
Deferred Tax Asset
-
71.7
71.7
71.7
71.7
Deferred Tax Liability
4.9
-
-
-
-
Total Assets
1,078
1,987
2,186
2,457
2,853
July 6, 2017
19
Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Cash Flow Statement
Y/E March (Rs cr)
FY15
FY16
FY17E
FY18E
FY19E
Profit before tax
204
258
347
359
503
Depreciation
81
97
114
149
193
Change in Working Capital
-216
-6
31
-35
-2
Interest / Dividend (Net)
-2
2
18
20
20
Direct taxes paid
-42
-40
-59
-57
-86
Others
-6
1
0
0
0
Cash Flow from Operations
19
312
450
435
629
(Inc.)/ Dec. in Fixed Assets
-197
-290
-267
-648
-499
(Inc.)/ Dec. in Investments
209
-126
-60
-82
-164
Cash Flow from Investing
12
-416
-327
-731
-663
Issue of Equity
133
0
0
0
0
Inc./(Dec.) in loans
-3
742
-69
-1
27
Dividend Paid (Incl. Tax)
-133
-24
-19
-29
-49
Interest paid
-8
-8
-18
-20
-20
Cash Flow from Financing
-10
709
-106
-50
-42
Inc./(Dec.) in Cash
20
606
17
-346
-76
Opening Cash balances
95
114
720
737
391
Closing Cash balances
116
720
737
391
315
July 6, 2017
20
Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Key ratios
Y/E March
FY15
FY16
FY17
FY18E
FY19E
Valuation Ratio (x)
P/E (on FDEPS)
54.3
39.5
33.2
31.7
22.9
P/CEPS
37.1
28.1
23.8
21.2
15.6
P/BV
11.3
9.3
7.4
6.1
4.9
Dividend yield (%)
4.4
0.2
0.2
0.3
0.5
EV/Sales
11.2
8.8
8.0
7.1
5.5
EV/EBITDA
34.1
25.6
23.6
21.9
15.1
EV / Total Assets
8.9
4.9
4.4
4.1
3.5
Per Share Data (`)
EPS (Basic)
9.0
12.4
14.8
15.5
21.5
EPS (fully diluted)
8.8
12.1
14.4
15.1
20.9
Cash EPS
12.9
17.0
20.1
22.5
30.5
DPS
21.0
1.0
1.0
1.5
2.5
Book Value
42.2
51.2
64.6
78.2
96.7
Returns (%)
ROCE
20.0
14.8
13.9
12.9
17.3
Angel ROIC (Pre-tax)
31.5
41.5
32.5
25.0
29.3
ROE
20.7
23.5
22.2
19.2
21.6
Turnover ratios (x)
Asset Turnover (Gross Block)
0.9
1.0
0.8
0.8
0.8
Inventory / Sales (days)
16
12
10
12
12
Receivables (days)
76
61
60
66
68
Payables (days)
29
25
31
27
27
Working capital cycle (ex-cash) (days)
63
49
39
51
53
July 6, 2017
21
Initiating coverage | Syngene International
Research Team Tel: 022 - 39357800
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.angelbroking.com
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Disclosure of Interest Statement
Syngene International
1. Financial interest of research analyst or Angel or his Associate or his relative
No
2. Ownership of 1% or more of the stock by research analyst or Angel or associates or relatives
No
3. Served as an officer, director or employee of the company covered under Research
No
4. Broking relationship with company covered under Research
No
Ratings (Based on expected returns
Buy (> 15%)
Accumulate (5% to 15%)
Neutral (-5 to 5%)
over 12 months investment period):
Reduce (-5% to -15%)
Sell (< -15)
July 6, 2017
22