Ranbaxy Laboratories, a subsidiary of Daiichi Sankyo, has suffered a heavy setback during the third quarter ended September 2008 due to forex movement and decision of US FDA. The company's standalone net loss amounted to Rs 352.93 crore as against a net profit of Rs 168.16 crore in the corresponding period of last year. Its net sales, however, increased by 10.4 per cent to Rs 1146.30 crore from Rs 1038.12 crore.

The company incurred foreign exchange loss of Rs 309.93 crore during the quarter under review as against gain of Rs 47.61 crore. This impacted its profitability. However, its profit before interest, exceptional items and taxation moved down by 67 per cent to Rs 55.19 crore from Rs 166.01 crore.

The company's consolidated net sales increased by 14 per cent to Rs 1888 crore during the third quarter from Rs 1652 crore in the last period. Its consolidated operating loss after tax reached at Rs 4.9 crore from an operating profit after tax of s 161.90 crore. Emerging markets accounted for 56 per cent of global sales at Rs 1064 crore and grew by 20 per cent. He emerging market sales were led by strong performances in Romania, CIS and Latin America markets. Developed markets contributed 38 per cent of global sales and reached at Rs 709 crore and grew at 9 per cent.

Commenting on the developments in the quarter, Malvinder Mohan Singh, CEO and managing director, said, "As part of our strategy to rebalance our portfolio, we have been focusing on strengthening our emerging markets business which continued to deliver strong growth in Q3. We have also achieved a significant milestone with Daiichi Sankyo acquiring a majority sake in Ranbaxy. This will create a strong global innovator and generic powerhouse. The quarter also had its challenges including unprecedented forex movement and some losses relating to the turn of events on the US FDA front. We continue to cooperate closely with the US authorities and remain positive that outstanding issues will be resolved."

The company's sales in India, excluding global consumer healthcare, for the quarter moved up by 7 per cent to Rs 354 crore. Ranbaxy made good progress in the area of New Drug Discovery Research. Its R&D expenditure for the quarter reached at Rs 112.63 crore from Rs 109.93 crore in the corresponding period of last year.