Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
Ranbaxy Q4 net profit dips
By siliconindia staff writer
|
Friday, 23 January 2004, 20:30 IST
MUMBAI: India's top drugmaker Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd said on Friday its quarterly net profit fell as competition emerged for its top selling US antibiotic drug.
The New Delhi-based firm said net profit was Rs 1.76 billion ($38.7 million), in its fiscal fourth quarter ended December 31. That compared with a profit of Rs 1.92 billion a year ago and Rs 1.87 billion in the preceding quarter.
A Reuters poll of 11 brokerages forecast the firm to post a net profit of Rs 1.84 billion on sales of Rs 11.92 billion.
The firm had a windfall since March 2002 from selling a copy of a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Ceftin antibiotic Ceftin, as it faced no competition from any other generic player till July last year. The emergence of competition has hurt its earnings.
Ranbaxy's shares rose 85 per cent last year, outpacing the 73 per cent rise in the broader market.