Pharmaceutical manufacturer Forest Laboratories Inc. (FRX) on Tuesday reported a sharp decline in fourth-quarter profit, as sales from anti-depressant Lexapro plunged due to patent expiry in the quarter. The company sees year-over-year decline in 2013 revenues.
Net income fell to $192.67 million or $0.72 per share from $322.48 million or $1.12 per share in the prior-year quarter.
Excluding acquisition related amortization, earnings per share dropped to $0.78 from $1.14. On average, 26 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $0.70 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Net sales decreased to $996.91 million from $1.09 billion. Net revenues slid to $1.06 billion from $1.14 billion a year ago. Analysts estimated revenues of $1.02 billion for the fourth quarter.
Lexapro's sales plunged to $355.8 million from $594.8 million in the year-ago period. Patent protection for Lexapro expired on March 14.
Sales of Namenda, for the treatment of moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease, climbed nearly 20 percent to $393.1 million. Hypertension drug Bystolic's sales increased 32.6 percent to $96.9 million.
New products Daliresp and Viibryd, which were launched in August 2011, recorded sales of $13.1 million and $24.9 million, respectively.
Costs and expenses climbed to $842.01 million from $730.18 million on higher Selling, general and administrative expenses as well as increased Research and development costs.
The company expects fiscal 2013 earnings per share in the range of $0.90 - $1.05 and adjusted earnings per share of $1.20 - $1.35. Analysts estimate earnings per share of $1.11 for the year.
Also, the company expects total net revenue of about $3.4 billion for the full year, compared to $4.6 billion reported in fiscal 2012. Analysts project full-year revenue of $3.33 billion.
FRX is currently trading up 0.42 percent at $33.78.
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