Dr Reddy's Fourth-quarter Profit Falls 19% On US Headwinds

Indian generic drugmaker Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd posted a 19 per cent drop in quarterly net profit on Tuesday, missing analysts' estimates, pulled down by headwinds in the US market.

The company's net profit, for the quarter ended March 31, came in at Rs 2.72 billion ($39.98 million), compared with Rs 3.38 billion a year earlier, the company said.

Nineteen analysts on average expected a net profit of 3.59 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Revenue from the generics business in North America, its biggest market, dropped 6 percent to Rs 14.49 billion due to price erosions and increased competition.

Export-driven Indian drugmakers' ability to negotiate on prices has been hit by consolidation among drug distributors in the United States.

Revenue from its generics business in Europe plunged 17 per cent largely due to supply disruptions.

Shares of the drugmaker was up 1.8 per cent, as of 0842 GMT.

(Reuters)