Ranbaxy Laboratories has suffered a setback during the second quarter ended June 2010 on account of foreign exchange loss as against gain in the similar period of last year. Its consolidated net profit declined by 53 per cent to Rs 325.71 crore from Rs 693.60 crore in the last period. Its net sale, however, improved by 17.1 per cent to Rs 2099 crore from RS 1792 crore. With fall in profits, its earnings per share moved down to Rs 7.74 from Rs 16.50.

The company's consolidated earnings before depreciation, interest, taxation and forex adjustments (EBDITA) worked out to Rs 544 crore as against Rs 96.79 crore. Its interest cost declined to Rs 11.06 crore from Rs 19.70 crore and depreciation provision reached at Rs 69.50 crore as against Rs 64.50 crore. Profit after taxation but before adjustments improved significantly to Rs 463.76 crore from a loss of Rs 376.11 crore. The foreign exchange loss worked out to Rs 349.52 crore as compared to gain of Rs 687.58 crore. This provision impacted the profitability adversely during the quarter under review. Its operating margins improved significantly during the quarter.

The company launched atorvastatin in Canada and South Africa. The launch in Canada, was under its global settlement with Pfizer. In South Africa, Ranbaxy was the first to launch a generic version in the market. The company made 32 filings and received 35 approvals for dosage forms during the quarter. For APIs a total of 19 (15 APIs) filings were made and 32 approvals were received. Its consolidated R&D expenditure for the quarter increased to Rs 136.99 crore from Rs 117.13 crore.

Its sales in North America increased by 100 per cent to Rs 738 crore and its sales in Europe improved by 15 per cent to Rs 320 crore. Ranbaxy's sales in India remained at almost same level at Rs 449 crore. The CIS region recorded sales of Rs 93 crore, a growth of 33 per cent and in Africa region improved by 6 per cent to Rs 177 crore during the quarter ended June 2010.

For the first half ended June 2010, Ranbaxy's net sales increased by 37 per cent to Rs 4,586 crore from Rs 3,346 crore in the same period of last year. The company earned a hefty net profit of Rs 1286 crore as against a net loss of Rs 73.74 crore. Its EBDITA touched to Rs 1,568 crore from Rs 96.28 crore. Its interest cost for the first half of 2011 went up sharply by 48.1 per cent to Rs 126.94 crore from Rs 85.70 crore and depreciation provision increased to Rs 170.07 from Rs 128.30 crore. Profit before tax and adjustment worked out to Rs 818.77 crore as against a loss of Rs 139.02 crore. The company provided Rs 167.48 crore for forex gain as compared to loss of Rs 13 crore. Its R&D expenditure increased to Rs 292.78 crore from Rs 225.03 crore in the last period.

Atul Sobti, CEO and managing director, said, “The company delivered another quarter of good growth as a result of our effort to maximize first-to-file opportunities in the USA, and a healthy operational performance led by key geographies. The transfer of New Drug Discovery Research assets to Daiichi Sankyo will provide a sharper focus to our R&D effort, in our core area of generics. This is in line with our commitment to optimize synergies through the Hybrid Business Model.”