Cipla's 4th-qtr 2006 net profit increases 5.2%

Indian drugmaker Cipla says that its net profit in the last three months of 2006 rose 5.2% on the like, year-ago period, to 1.84 billion rupees ($41.7 million). However, this was below the 1.97 billion rupees forecast average from a survey of six analysts conducted by Dow Jones Newswires.

During the period, Cipla's domestic sales grew 9.8% to 4.35 billion rupees, while income from exported drugs rose 8.3% to 4.18 billion rupees. The firm, whose offerings include a generic version of Gilead's HIV drug Viread (tenofovir), says that its operating margin climbed 24.2% from 19.6% as staff costs jumped 30% to 457.9 million rupees.