Daiichi to book $3.9 bln loss on Ranbaxy stake

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's third-largest drugmaker, Daiichi Sankyo Co, said on Monday it would book an appraisal loss of 359.5 billion yen ($3.9 billion) on a parent-company basis on its stake in Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.
Daiichi Sankyo paid nearly 500 billion yen for the 63.9 percent stake it acquired in the major generic drug maker last year, seeking to diversify its operations into the generic drug segment and into emerging markets.
The Japanese company also said it would book a one-time loss of 354 billion yen on a consolidated basis to reflect the parent-company loss.
Daiichi Sankyo is expected to revise its earnings outlooks for the current fiscal year ending in March on Jan. 30.
Its shares finished flat at 2,100 yen. Ranbaxy shares were down 1.1 percent at 247.40 rupees, sharply below the 737 rupees per share that Daiichi Sankyo paid for its stake.
Daiichi Sankyo and Ranbaxy hammered out the deal last June ahead of the global stock market meltdown and the yen's surge against the rupee, and before the U.S. government took action against Ranbaxy on alleged data falsification, further hitting the company's shares.