Dr Reddy's second-quarter profit falls 17%

Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, India's second-largest drugmaker by revenue, reported a 17% drop in its second-quarter profit due to higher costs, pushing its shares down nearly 3% on Wednesday.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, India's second-largest drugmaker by revenue, reported a 17% drop in its second-quarter profit due to higher costs, pushing its shares down nearly 3% on Wednesday.

The company also said it bought the rights to sell the nicotine patch Habitrol in the United States from Novartis Consumer Health Inc, a unit of Swiss firm Novartis.

The agreement was entered into on October 18 and is subject to a review by the US Federal Trade Commission, Dr Reddy's said in a statement to the exchanges, without disclosing further details.

The company reported a net profit of 5.74 billion rupees ($93.6 million) for the quarter ended September, down from 6.90 billion rupees a year earlier.

Dr Reddy's shares were down 1.8% at 3,025 rupees at 1:11 pm, while the Nifty was up 0.46%.