Ranbaxy's profits for 2nd-qtr hit 1.4B rupees

Ranbaxy Laboratories, India's largest pharmaceutical company by turnover, says that its net profits for the quarter ended September 30, 2006, were 1.40 billion rupees ($31.3 million), up a massive 651% from 187.0 million rupees in the comparable year-earlier period. The firm said that the earnings leap was a result of both "robust growth" in overseas markets, as well as its program of cost cutting measures.

Ranbaxy also reported sales of 16.40 billion rupees, up 26%. The company forecast that the October-December quarter would be stronger than the reported period, which included increased investment in its Romanian operations. The company's chief executive officer, Malvinder Mohan Singh, added that price erosion of around 70% for the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin had also affected its performance in the quarter.