Forest Laboratories Inc.'s (FRX) fiscal fourth-quarter earnings
soared absent prior-year licensing costs as the pharmaceutical
company also reported sales growth.
The results beat analysts' expectations.
For the year, the company projected per-share earnings of $3.60
to $3.70 including health-reform and other impacts on revenue of
$4.5 billion, while analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most
recently forecast $3.91 and $4.61 billion, respectively.
Like many drug makers, Forest Labs has sought to to partner with
drug developers to bolster its pipeline. The company recently
completed its $1.2 billion acquisition of Clinical Data Inc. (CLDA)
in a bet that antidepressant Viibryd can help offset the looming
loss of patent protection for Forest Lab's Lexapro, a depression
treatment and its main money maker, and Alzheimer's drug No. 2
drug, Namenda. Sales of Lexapro in the latest quarter rose 6.7%.
Namenda sales increased 11%.
For the quarter ended March 31, Forest Labs reported a profit of
$322.5 million, or $1.12 a share, up from $22.6 million, or 7 cents
a share, a year earlier. The prior year included 76 cents in
licensing charges. Revenue increased 7.8% to $1.14 billion, as net
sales grew 9.7% to $1.09 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently forecast
earnings of $1.07 on revenue of $1.11 billion.
Cost of sales as a percentage of sales was 21.8%, down from
24%.
Shares closed Monday at $33.22 and were inactive premarket. The
stock is up 18% in the past year.
-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2481; Tess.Stynes@dowjones.com