Sun Pharma raises growth outlook after Q3 profit beats f'cast

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd on Thursday raised its revenue growth outlook for this fiscal year after it posted a 74 percent rise in quarterly net profit, beating estimates, on new generic drug launches in the United States.

The company, India's third-largest drugmaker by sales, said revenue in this fiscal year ending on March 31 would rise 29 percent, higher than its earlier guidance of 25 percent.

Sun's net profit in the quarter ended December rose to 15.31 billion rupees, compared to 8.81 billion rupees in the same period last year. Net sales grew 50 percent in the quarter to 42.87 billion rupees.

Analysts had expected the company to post a profit of 13.29 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Sun, which gets more than half its revenue from the United States, said sales in its biggest market grew 57 percent, helped by the launch of drugs such as a generic version of Eli Lilly & Company's Cymbalta used for treating depressive disorders.

(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Aradhana Aravindan)