UPDATE 1-India Ranbaxy posts Q3 profit, keeps '09 loss f'cast
* Net profit of 1.17 bln rupees vs 3.95 bln loss year ago
* CEO says dialogue on with US FDA for corrective action
* To supply Nexium raw material by Jan 2010 (Adds details, management, analyst comments, shares)
NEW DELHI, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Ranbaxy Laboratories (RANB.BO), India's top drug maker by sales, reported a second straight quarter of profit helped by emerging market sales and cost control measures even as a U.S. ban continued to weigh on sales.
The drug maker, which expects a net loss of 8 billion rupees ($172 million) in 2009, left the guidance unchanged.
Ranbaxy, which is 64 percent owned by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo (4568.T), incurred losses in three consecutive quarters to March hit by forex fluctuations and a U.S. ban on some products. It swung back to profit in the June quarter, boosted by forex gains.
Sarabjit Kour Nangra, a pharmaceuticals analyst at Mumbai-based Angel broking, said the firm's sales have not improved owing to the U.S. ban.
"But if it maintains the operational performance, some kind of upgrade would be needed," said Nangra, who has a "sell" rating on the stock following the company's poor outlook and recent share price falls.
Ranbaxy shares, valued at about $3.4 billion, closed 2.6 percent higher at 381.90 rupees in a weak Mumbai market.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in February said Ranbaxy sold misbranded or adulterated drugs in the United States, the company's largest market, having earlier banned imports of over 30 generic drugs from the firm.
"Dialogue with the FDA is on and a corrective action plan is under way," Ranbaxy Chief Executive Atul Sobti told reporters at a conference call on Monday.
Sobti said the firm will supply AstraZeneca (AZN.L) with raw materials for anti-ulcer drug Nexium by January 2010.
BEATS FORECAST
New Delhi-based Ranbaxy posted consolidated net profit of 1.17 billion rupees for its fiscal third quarter ended September, from a year ago loss of 3.95 billion rupees.
Consolidated sales fell 18 percent in September to 17.21 billion rupees, mainly weighed down by the U.S market. Sales in developed markets were 30 percent lower than the year-ago quarter, while emerging markets sales were unchanged.
A Reuters poll of eight analysts had on average expected the company to post a net loss of 335 million rupees on sales of 17.97 billion rupees.
Losses on valuation of foreign exchange contracts more than halved to 200 million rupees in September from 580 million a year earlier, Chief Financial Officer Omesh Sethi said on the call, as the rupee was less volatile as compared to last year.
Nearest domestic rival Dr Reddy's Laboratories (REDY.BO)(RDY.N) last Friday said its September quarter profit doubled helped by new generic launches and kept its forecast of 10 percent revenue growth in the year to March 2010. [ID:nBOM82067].
Ranbaxy shares rose about 65 percent during the September quarter, compared with an 18 percent rise in the main index and also outperforming Reddy's 27 percent rise. On the year, Ranbaxy shares are up 52 percent while the benchmark has risen 74 percent and that of Reddy's have more than doubled. ($1=46.6 rupees) (Editing by Malini Menon)
