Cipla net up 25% in Q3 on robust sales

Slightly misses street estimates as taxes surge

Cipla Ltd, India's fifth largest drugmaker by sales, reported a 25.5% rise in quarterly profit on robust sales but slightly missed street estimates as taxes surged.

The Mumbai-based drugmaker said, net profit grew to 3.39 billion rupees in October-December from 2.7 billion rupees a year earlier. Analysts on an average had expected a net profit of 3.48 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales rose 18.65% to 20.3 billion rupees, it said.

Shares in Cipla fell 0.56% to 405 rupees on Wednesday when the Mumbai market closed down 0.1%.