Ranbaxy net slumps 53%

Ranbaxy Laboratories, the country’s largest drug maker, on Thursday reported a 53 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 325.7 crore for the quarter ended June 30, compared to Rs 693.6 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

The drop in profit was due to a forex loss of Rs 233.7 crore in the June quarter, against a forex gain of Rs 878.4 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income rose 14.4 per cent to Rs 2,150.5 crore from Rs 1,879.2 crore. Chairman and Managing Director Atul Sobti said the growth was the result of one-time revenues in the US and healthy operational performance across geographies.

“The company’s operational performance is good, though the results are not attractive due to forex losses,” Ranjit Kapadia, vice-president, institutional research of brokerage firm HDFC Securities, said.

The company had no tax outgo during the June quarter, which analysts said were on account of the higher tax Ranbaxy had paid during the last quarter. “It also had higher R&D expense and a corresponding tax benefit,” Kapadia said.

Geographically, the company’s sales in India remained unchanged from last year’s June quarter, at Rs 448.7 crore, while in North America, it posted 100 per cent growth in quarterly sales at Rs 737.6 crore.

The growth in US business was driven by the successful launch of Valacyclovir, with limited market exclusivity.