Lupin quarterly profit gets boost from lower tax rate

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Lupin Ltd , India's third-largest drugmaker, posted a 55 percent rise in quarterly profit, but shares fell as some analysts noted the jump was driven in part by a lower tax rate.

Net profit came in at 8.82 billion rupees ($131.76 million) for the April-June quarter, compared with 5.69 billion rupees a year earlier, as per the new Indian Accounting Standard under which Lupin reported.

Shares of Lupin fell as much as 5.6 percent to a one-month low of 1,598 rupees, in late afternoon trading in Mumbai.

An HDFC Securities analyst noted that Lupin's net profit was in line with the bank's estimate, but that margins were off 2.5 percent, due to higher employee costs.

Sales in North America, Lupin's largest market, surged 82.3 percent, helped by sales of products bought via the acquisition of Gavis in July, and higher sales of its generic version of diabetes drug Glumetza.

Sales in Japan rose 31 percent, while those in India, Lupin's second-largest market, grew 5.2 percent, the company said in a statement.

($1 = 66.9400 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui; Editing by Euan Rocha and Subhranshu Sahu)