A Pair of Drug Powerhouses Post Gains for 2nd Quarter
April 03, 2011
NEW YORK -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Warner-Lambert Co. both posted solid second-quarter earnings Monday, although a flat revenue reading from Warner-Lambert cast a shadow over its report. Results for Bristol-Myers met the estimates of Wall Street analysts. The New York pharmaceutical giant said net income rose a bit over 7% to $655 million, or $1.31 a share, from $608 million, or $1.20 a share, a year ago. The company said its revenue also rose more than 7%, to $3.70 billion from $3.45 billion a year ago, and that it is on track to double its sales, earnings and earnings per share by the end of the year 2015. Among its top-selling products, the company's blockbuster cholesterol-lowering drug Pravachol recently won additional U.S. approval as a treatment for the prevention of heart attacks. Morris Plains, N.J.-based Warner-Lambert's results came in just above analysts' estimates, with profits up 6.1% to $213.3 million, or 79 cents a share, from $201 million, or 75 cents a share a year ago. But the company's revenue of $1.79 billion was almost unchanged from a year ago. The per-share earnings reflect a two-for-one stock split that took effect in May. Warner-Lambert is the leader in consumer over-the-counter drugs but is considered to have a weaker pipeline for new prescription drugs. Just after the quarter ended, Warner-Lambert closed its $1.05 billion purchase of its joint venture with Glaxo Wellcome PLC.. The purchase brings a variety of well-known over-the-counter products, such as Sudafed, Actifed and Neosporin, directly under the Warner-Lambert umbrella. In April, the company said it hopes its diabetes treatment, troglitazone, and the cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin will double the company's drug sales by 2015.
