Ranbaxy jumps nearly 14 pct on April-June U.S. sales

Reuters Market Eye - Ranbaxy Laboratories shares gain as much as 13.9 percent after better-than-expected April-June sales at its U.S. unit.

As of 11:45 a.m., the stock was trading 12.6 percent higher.

The U.S. results were a relief after Ranbaxy shares had tumbled 36 percent as of Wednesday's close since the drug maker pleaded guilty to U.S. felony charges related to drug safety and agreed to pay $500 million in settlement.

Macquarie said U.S. sales were driven by the newly launched acne treatment drug Absorica, which could see much higher sales in future. "Given Absorica is the only formulation being promoted to doctors with a much superior profile, we think it can easily be a US$180-200m product at its peak with high margin," Macquarie, which rates the stock "outperform", said in a note dated Wednesday.

(Reporting by Himank Sharma)