Lupin Q2 up 39 pct; sees FDA resolution by 2009-end

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Drug firm Lupin on Monday posted a forecast-beating 39 percent rise in quarterly profit aided by robust sales in U.S. and India. An ongoing issue with the U.S. FDA may be resolved by end-2009, a top official said.

On Monday, Mumbai-based Lupin posted a net profit of 1.6 billion rupees for the second quarter ended September, on revenue of 11.15 billion, up 23 percent. This compared with forecasts for a profit of 1.53 billion rupees on revenue of 11.1 billion.

"The business was good across India and U.S. In Japan too growth was seen in dollar terms," Nilesh Gupta, Lupin's group president and executive director told Reuters over the telephone.

U.S. and Europe sales, accounting for almost a third of Lupin's revenue, rose 28 percent to 3.53 billion rupees in the quarter.

Japan, which adds 12 percent to overall sales, did not see much growth in terms of Yen sales due to seasonality of the business he said but expects a pick up in the next few quarters.

Gupta also forecast a 20-25 percent revenue rise for the year to March 2010. Last year, it reported 37.76 billion rupees in sales. Net margins are expected to improve by 1 to 2 percentage points over 14 percent, he added.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which found 15 deficiencies at Lupin's drug unit in Madhya Pradesh in 2008, is expected to re-inspect the unit before December, Gupta added.

"We do expect the issue to be resolved before the end of the year," he told Reuters over telephone after the company posted its quarterly results. "We are still tweaking the dates for the regulator's visit."

In recent times, the U.S. regulator has faulted the manufacturing procedures of several drug firms including Ranbaxy Laboratories and a unit of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries.