MUMBAI (Reuters) - Cipla Ltd, India's third-largest drugmaker by sales, reported a second-quarter net profit slightly below analysts estimates, as expenses rose.
Net profit rose 44 percent to 4.31 billion rupees ($65.56 million) in the quarter ended September, Cipla said in a statement on Thursday. But it was below analysts' average estimate of 4.84 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Cipla, whose biggest market is India, is now working on expanding its footprint in the United States, where many of its peers have been selling for years.
The company agreed to buy two generics businesses in cash deals worth $550 million in September, gaining drugs to treat infection, diabetes and central nervous system disorders.
($1 = 65.7400 rupees)
(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in Mumbai; Editing by Sunil Nair)
