But CMD says much of the problem to be solved soon.
Mounting foreign exchange losses and a 14 per cent decline in its US market has led to Ranbaxy showing one of its worst quarterly performances ever.
The company recorded a net loss of Rs 761 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2009, against a net profit of Rs 153 crore during the comparable quarter in 2008.
This is the third quarter in a row in which the company is registering losses for these stated reasons — forex and derivative losses and declining revenues from the US. The net loss during the previous quarter was Rs 680 crore; it was Rs 394 crore during the quarter ended September 2008.
Ranbaxy, now a subsidiary of Japanese drug major Daiichi Sankyo, says it expects near-flat growth in annual sales in the current year, with annual revenues in 2009 at about Rs 7,000 crore.
It expects a net loss of Rs 800 crore for the current year. Ranbaxy had recorded annual sales of Rs 7,250.7 crore during 2008.
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The company’s overall revenues declined 4 per cent to Rs 1,558.4 crore, from Rs 1,623 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The decline was partially offset by sustained revenues from developing markets, including India.
“The numbers are disappointing. The operational performance has been very bad. Even if I exclude the mark-to-market losses and exceptional items, the performance was not up to the mark,” said Sarabjit Kaur Nagra, vice-president, research, Angel Broking.
The sales in developed markets were Rs 608 crore, 6 per cent less than in the corresponding period the year before. Except India and the Asian region, all other regions registered declines during the quarter under review.
Addressing an analyst call late evening, Malvinder Mohan Singh, chairman, CEO and managing director of Ranbaxy, said the forex woes were likely to be over by the next quarter.