CEO resigns at struggling Indian drug firm Ranbaxy

MUMBAI: Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd Chief Executive Officer Malvinder Singh quit a month after India's biggest drugmaker forecast a full-year loss.

Singh has been replaced by Chief Operating Officer Atul Sobti, Ranbaxy and Daiichi Sankyo Co, which paid $5 billion for a controlling stake in the Indian company last year, said yesterday. They didn't provide a reason for the change.

Sobti, who was responsible for Ranbaxy's global operations, will need to restore investor confidence in a stock that's the worst performer on India's Sensex index this year. Ranbaxy, based in Gurgaon, near New Delhi, forecast a loss of about 8 billion rupees ($170 million) this year.