Mumbai,  Aug 9: Ranbaxy Laboratories, India-based leading  pharmaceutical company, reporting consolidated net loss of Rs 5.8 billion for the April-June quarter  against profit of Rs 2.43 billion in a year ago period, as forex loss due to rupee depreciation inflated exception expenses.

Ranbaxy,  controlled by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo Co, in its regulatory filing said that its consolidated net sales for Q1 rose 54.55% on-year to Rs 31.74 billion.

"Sales and profitability grew in the quarter with overall improvement across major regions, aided further by exclusivity sales in some of the key markets," Arun Sawhney, chief executive, said in a statement.

Sales in the US grew 140% Rs to 14.71 billion in April-June, primarily due to the generic version of Lipitor. It has settled a compliance-related dispute with the FDA early this year and can now ship products from its Indian factories to the US market.

Ranbaxy's forex loss for Q1 stood at Rs 8.50 billion as against forex gain of Rs 1.12 billion in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

The company's other income surged almost three-fold to Rs 697 million on-year. However, finance cost rose sharply to Rs 1.65 billion from Rs 250 million. Interestingly sales in its key U.S. market more than doubled during the period.

The depreciation of the Indian rupee against the dollar, though favorable to Ranbaxy's export business, had an adverse impact on the company, said Ranbaxy.

Valued at $3.9 billion, shares in Ranbaxy closed down 2.7% at Rs 501.80 on Thursday. The stock is up about 24% this year so far.