Cipla Q4 net profit down 3% on higher costs

Drugmaker Cipla Ltd on Thursday reported a 3% drop in fourth-quarter net profit, slightly below analysts' estimates due to higher raw material and employee expenses.

The company, among the world's largest suppliers of HIV/AIDS medicines, said January-March net profit was Rs 261 crore ($44.33 million), compared with Rs 268 crore a year earlier.

Net sales rose about 15% to Rs 2,194 crore, while total expenses shot up 35%.

Cipla, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in India, gets more than half its revenue through exports to nearly 180 overseas markets, including Africa, Latin America and the United States.

Shares of the company, down 6.4% so far this year, closed down 2% on Thursday, in line with the Nifty.

($1 = 58.8750 rupees)