DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) fourth-quarter earnings rose 5.7% as
the biopharmaceutical company's product sales continued to rise and
it no longer booked deep reductions in royalties.
Product sales, from which the company gets the majority of its
revenue, increased 11%. Sales of antiviral products, its dominant
revenue stream, were up 9.5%, driven by HIV drugs Atripla and
Truvada, which had sales increases of about 11% and 9%,
respectively. Product sales have been rising steadily in recent
quarters.
Royalties, contract and other revenue from collaborations were
down a modest 2.1%.
Lately, Gilead has been focusing on simplifying HIV therapy, a
treatment market that it dominates. In December, U.S. regulators
accepted Gilead's new drug application for its Quad combination HIV
drug, which analysts view as a potential growth driver.
The company also receives royalties for Tamiflu from Roche
Holding AG (RHHBY, ROG.VX). Stark slumps in Tamiflu royalties had
encumbered the company's bottom line in previous quarters, even
pushing profit lower in the first quarter.
Last month, Gilead bought Pharmasset Inc. for more than $11
billion in a deal expected to accelerate the development of
treatments for hepatitis C.
In the latest period, Gilead posted a profit of $665.1 million,
or 87 cents a share, from $629.4 million, or 76 cents a share, a
year earlier. The latest results included acquisition-related
costs, while the previous year's results included a large
write-down. Excluding those and other items, earnings rose to 97
cents a share from 95 cents.
Revenue increased 10% to $2.2 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.05
a share on revenue of $2.18 billion.
Operating margin fell to 39.4% from 41.5%.
Shares closed Thursday at $49.31 and slipped 0.6% to $49 after
hours. Through the close, the stock has risen 25% in the last year,
outperforming the broader market.
-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291;
joan.solsman@dowjones.com