Ranbaxy books first profit in six quarters, Q2 PAT at Rs 478 cr

The drug maker, acquired by Sun Pharma, had a loss of Rs 454 cr in year ago quarter when it took a foreign exchange charge of Rs 360 cr

Ranbaxy Laboratories has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 478 crore for the quarter ended September. It was the first profit in the past six quarters, on the back of exclusive sales of a generic blood pressure drug in the US. The drug maker, in the process of being acquired by Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, had a loss of Rs 454 crore in the same quarter a year before, when it took a foreign exchange charge of Rs 360 crore.

Sales were Rs 3,218 crore, about 17 per cent more than last year's Rs 2,750 crore, due to exclusivity sales of Valsartan, a cheaper copy of the Novartis AG blood pressure pill, Diovan, in the US during the quarter.

Arun Sawhney, managing director, said: “During the quarter, growth in the base business was driven by India and Western Europe. In the US, we successfully launched Valsartan with a 180-day exclusivity. Our focus continues to be on creating brands and providing differentiated products as future growth drivers.”

On Tuesday, Ranbaxy shares closed at Rs 634.1, up by 6.1 per cent a day earlier on the BSE. In the US, sales for the quarter were Rs 1,354 crore. It was Rs 643 crore in the domestic market, a growth of 12 per cent over a year before. Growth of sales in Europe was driven by better performance in Britain, Germany, Spain and North Europe. European sales were Rs 233 crore, a growth of 17 per cent. Earlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had banned the import of products from Ranbaxy’s unit in Toansa, Punjab, due to manufacturing violations. Toansa was the fourth unit of the company to be banned by FDA, after those at Paonta Sahib, Dewas and Mohali.