Aurobindo Q3 net dips 6% on forex losses

Aurobindo Pharma Limited, a Hyderabad-based manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients, witnessed a 6.27 per cent dip in net profit to Rs 41.8 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 3008, as compared with Rs 44.6 crore during the same period a year ago.

The decline was primarily on account of the Rs 57-crore loss incurred on foreign currency transactions, which include loss due to restatement of foreign currency convertible bonds of Rs 39.3 crore, as against a gain of Rs 7.3 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, the company said in a press release on Friday.

Total income, however, grew 43.36 per cent to touch Rs 828.1 crore, as against Rs 577.6 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. This was on the back of formulation sales that grew 43.18 per cent to Rs 353.1 crore during the quarter, as compared with the earlier Rs 246.6 crore, constituting 46.7 per cent of the gross sales.

The company received eight abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration during the quarter, taking the total approvals to 87.

Its scrip on Friday dropped by Rs 10.65 or 6.24 per cent from the previous close of Rs 170.60 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.