Ranbaxy Laboratories posted an unexpected quarterly loss of Rs.586 crore ($106 million) as foreign exchange losses ballooned although sales in its key U.S. market more than doubled.
Ranbaxy, controlled by Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo Co, recorded a loss of Rs.599 crore on foreign currency derivatives in the second quarter ended June 30, 2012, compared to a gain of Rs.112 crore a year earlier, it said.
Net sales rose 54.5 per cent to Rs.3,174 crore, Ranbaxy said.
The depreciation of the rupee against the dollar, though favourable to Ranbaxy’s export business, had an adverse impact on the company, said Ranbaxy. “Sales and profitability grew in the quarter with overall improvement across major regions, aided further by exclusivity sales in some of the key markets,” Arun Sawhney, chief executive, said in a statement.
Sales in North America, Ranbaxy’s biggest market, grew 140 per cent to Rs.1,471 crore in April-June, primarily due to the generic version of Lipitor, Pfizer’s cholesterol-lowering blockbuster drug.
Ranbaxy settled a compliance-related dispute with the U.S. drug regulator early this year and can now ship products from its Indian factories to the world's largest drug market. — Reuters
