India's Ranbaxy Q4 net rises 4.4 pct, beats f'cast
NEW DELHI, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Ranbaxy Laboratories (RANB.BO), India's top drug maker by sales, reported a 4.4 percent rise in quarterly net profit on Thursday, beating forecasts on strong sales of generic drugs in Western markets.
Ranbaxy, which aims to be among the world's top five generic drug makers with $5 billion in annual sales by 2012, said net profit rose to 1.88 billion rupees ($48 million) in the December quarter from a revised 1.80 billion rupees a year ago.
A Reuters poll of 11 brokerages had forecast Ranbaxy's earnings to fall 15.2 percent to 1.55 billion rupees.
Ranbaxy has grown internationally by selling generics, cheap copies of branded drugs off-patent, or by successfully challenging the patents held by Western firms.
In November, the company said it had resolved a U.S. patent dispute over tamsulosin capsules, a generic equivalent of Flomax, used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia.
Shares in Ranbaxy, valued at $3.8 billion, fell 1.9 percent during the quarter, lagging 17 percent rise in the benchmark index .BSESN of the Bombay Stock Exchange .BSESN. (Reporting by C. Jacob Kuncheria; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)
