Ranbaxy posts Q2 loss of Rs 586 cr

Ranbaxy Laboratories, India's top drugmaker by sales, reported a consolidated net loss of 5.86 billion rupees as foreign exchange losses ballooned despite a surge in sales.

Ranbaxy, controlled by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo Co, recorded a loss of Rs 599 crore on foreign currency derivatives in fiscal second quarter ended June, compared to a gain of Rs 112 crore a year earlier, it said.

Net sales rose 54.5 percent to Rs 3,174 crore, Ranbaxy said.

Analysts had forecast net profit at Rs 321 crore on net sales of Rs 2,906 crore, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.