(RTTNews) -  Specialty pharmaceutical company Warner Chilcott Ltd (WCRX: News ) reported Monday a year-over-year surge in profit for the third quarter, benefiting from a significant gain on the Leo Pharma licensing deal as well as a 9% revenue growth on higher sales of its Loestrin birth control drug and Estrace cream.

The Ardee, Ireland-based company, which a few months back shifted base from Rockaway, New Jersey, reported net income of $424.25 million or $1.69 per share, sharply higher than $40.09 million or $0.16 per share in the prior-year quarter. Cash net income for the quarter soared to $483.32 million from $96.52 million in the year-ago quarter.

The results for the latest quarter include a after-tax gain of $380.1 million or $1.51 per share related to the Leo Pharma licensing deal. Excluding the gain, adjusted cash net income was $103.23 million or $0.41 per share for the quarter.

On average, 10 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.42 per share for the third quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Total revenues for the quarter increased 9.0% to $252.80 million from $231.94 million in the same quarter last year, narrowly missed nine Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $254.79 million. The company attributed the revenue growth primarily to combined sales of Loestrin 24 FE and Estrace Cream, partially offset by net sales declines of other products, primarily Taclonex.

Net sales for oral contraceptive products for the third quarter increased 19.0% to $82.7 million from $69.5 million in the prior-year quarter. Dermatology products' net sales decreased 7.7% to $101.0 million from $109.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Net sales for hormone therapy products surged 37.9% to $57.0 million from $41.3 million in the comparable quarter a year ago.
Sarafem's net sales were $4.2 million, up from $2.0 million in the year-ago quarter. Other non-product revenues for the quarter rose to $4.7 million from $4.3 million a year ago.

Gross profit margin as a percentage of total revenue increased 260 basis points to 82.4% from last year's 79.8%, primarily due to a favorable mix of products sold, partially offset by increases in manufacturing costs.

The company ended the third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $753.72 million, compared to $13.23 million at end of the prior-year quarter.

In September, Danish drugmaker Leo Pharma AS said it is re-acquiring Warner Chilcott's exclusive product licensing rights in the U.S. to its topical psoriasis treatments Taclonex, Taclonex Scalp and Dovonex. LEO is also repurchasing rights to all products in its development pipeline, and acquiring all inventories of the products. LEO was to make a one-time cash payment of $1.0 billion to Warner Chilcott, which will result in a one-time gain.

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