Daiichi Sankyo 9-Month Profit Almost Triples After Settlement

Daiichi Sankyo Co. (4568), the worst performer on Japan’s Topix Pharmaceutical Index last year, said nine-month profit almost tripled from a year earlier, when net income was eroded by a provision to settle a legal dispute.

Profit was 51.5 billion yen ($567 million) for the nine months ended Dec. 31, from 17.5 billion yen a year earlier. Daiichi Sankyo still expects full-year profit of 50 billion yen, the Tokyo-based drugmaker said in a statement today.

Daiichi Sankyo, which owns 64 percent stake of India’s Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. (RBXY), accounts for the Indian unit’s earnings with a quarter lag. India’s biggest drugmaker is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on Feb. 26.

Daiichi Sankyo rose 0.8 percent to 1,546 yen as of 1:05 p.m. in Tokyo trading, while the benchmark Topix index declined 0.4 percent. The stock dropped 13 percent last year, while the 37- member Topix Pharmaceutical Index gained 12 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kanoko Matsuyama in Tokyo at kmatsuyama2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jason Gale at j.gale@bloomberg.net