Dr. Reddy's December quarter net profit fell 16 pct

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, India's second-largest drugmaker by sales, reported a 16 percent fall in its third quarter profit although it beat expectations.

The company reported a profit of 4.92 billion rupees ($73.24 million), while analysts, on average, expected a profit of 3.78 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales in North America, Dr Reddy's largest market, fell 15 percent, while those in India were up 2.4 percent, the company said in a statement on Saturday.

($1 = 67.1750 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Sam Holmes)