India's Sun Pharma Q3 profit falls nearly 5 pct; below estimates

MUMBAI, Feb 14 (Reuters) - India's largest drugmaker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's third-quarter profit fell below analysts' estimates due to slower sales in the United States, its largest market.

Sun's net profit for the October-December period fell to 14.72 billion rupees ($219.87 million) from 15.45 billion rupees a year earlier. Analysts on average expected a profit of 17.83 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sun said quarterly U.S. sales rose 4 percent over the year earlier. The company's U.S. subsidiary Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd last week reported third-quarter sales down 15 percent over the last year.

($1 = 66.9500 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in Mumbai; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Vyas Mohan)