Ranbaxy full year net doubles to Rs 520 cr

GURGAON: The net profit of Ranbaxy Laboratories has increased by 97% to Rs 520.4 crore for the year ended December 31, 2006, from Rs 264.2 in 2005. Consolidated revenues for 2006 rose 17% to Rs 6,069.8 crore from Rs 5,188 crore in 2005.

Operating profit before R&D, finance cost, depreciation and amortisation jumped 175.4% for the 12 months ended December 31, 2006 and stood at Rs 943.3 crore, against Rs 342.6 crore for the previous financial year.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2006, profit after tax grew 167.1% to Rs 185.9 crore compared with Rs 69.6 crore for the corresponding quarter last year.

For 2007, the company has given a guidance of 15% revenue growth. With annual revenues of $1.34 billion in 2006, this means that it is projecting a revenue of $1.54 billion for 2007.

While this indicates that the company will not be able to meet its stated objective of $2 billion, a big ticket acquisition such as the buyout of Merck���s generic division that Ranbaxy is currently pursuing will take it pass the $2 billion mark.

At the same time, Ranbaxy CEO Malvinder Singh says the company will not undertake an acquisition just to meet the target.Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Mr Singh said: ���We have had an extremely good year with robust sales across markets of US, BRICS, Africa, Latin America, Middle East, and the Asia Pacific. At the same time, our focus on streamlining costs and underlying organisational structures is leading to greater efficiencies.���

The company���s efforts on controlling costs have resulted in lower selling general and administrative (SGA) spend of 29% to sales for 2006, compared with 33% in 2005. Ranbaxy���s R&D expenditure came down by 21.4% during 2006.

Ranbaxy���s 17% sales growth in 2006 was driven by North America and the BRICS market which together account for 65% of the company���s total sales. US sales grew by 15% to $380 million for the year with Simvastatin 80 mg accounting for $60 million and capturing over 50% market share during the 180-day exclusivity period.

India sales grew by 19% to Rs 1,158 crore ($256 million) and during the moving quarter ended November 2006, the company maintained its number one position in the Indian pharma market with a 5.1% market share.