India continues to remain a strong growth driver and we are one of the three fastest growing companies among the top 15, said Glenn Saldanha, Chief Managing Director, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.

"We still see strong growth coming out of India both on our domestic business as well as consumer care business. So India will be a strong driver of growth in the year to come, said Saldanha to CNBC-TV18.

He said US business continues to remain challenging but positives are that the company got couple of approvals this quarter.

So, Q4FY18 was a likely trough for the US business and things would improve form Q1FY19 onwards. If we keep getting approvals, then we would be much better in FY19 than in FY18, he said.

On the margin front, Saldanha said it's difficult to predict US margins going forward, but so far, they have been able to maintain the margins. However, on a full year basis, margins will continue to be reasonably good, said Saldanha.

Talking about debt, he said the company will generate free cash, which would go towards reducing debt. The company is also looking at other corporate actions to accelerate debt reduction. Moreover, the cash flow form out licensing will also go towards it, he added.

Overall, the research and development spends would be in the 12% range on a full year basis, he added.

Mumbai-based Glenmark Pharmaceuticals posted a weak set of earnings in the fourth quarter of FY18.

In the concall by the company, they said price erosion in the US market had risen to 12% and US would continue to remain challenge for next four quarters.

First Published:May 30, 2018 12:13 PM IST