Ranbaxy Laboratories, on Tuesday posted its fourth straight quarter profit. For the period between January to March, the drug maker saw is net profit touch Rs. 9.6 billion. This is higher than what the market had expected it to achieve. Last year, the figure was Rs. 7.6 billion.

Higher than past sales mostly in the US market and favorable foreign exchange situations were the reasons cited for the good result.

The sales increased by 65 per cent to become Rs. 24.9 billion as against Rs. 15.6 billion in the last quarter.

Analysts say that the main reason behind this is that most of its overseas starches have done well.

While as many as 30 drugs of Ranbaxy have been banned by U. S. Food and Drug Administration, the generic version of its drug Valtrex has become popular in US.

The largest drug producer of India which is now part of Japan's Daiichi Sankyo Group has seen its market share reach 66 per cent in generic drug field.

Its US sales alone saw a 266 per cent rise and became Rs. 11.5 billion during the period.