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Bristol-Myers reports loss, hurt by special charges
2007-01-25
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) reported a fourth-quarter loss on Thursday because of special charges and generic competition for its Plavix blood-clot drug, but results beat expectations. The New York-based company said it lost $134 million, or 7 cents per share, compared with a profit of $499 million, or 26 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding special items, Bristol-Myers earned 19 cents per share. Analysts, on average, expected 16 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates. The special charges include $353 million in additional reserves toward a proposed $499 million settlement, following federal probes into the company's pricing and marketing practices. It took another $220 million charge to retire debt. The company forecast 2007 earnings, excluding items, of $1.20 to $1.30 per share. The Reuters Estimate forecast is $1.22 per share. Although fourth-quarter sales fell 16 percent to $4.21 billion, they were a bit higher than the $4.18 billion Reuters Estimates forecast. Bristol-Myers said revenue from Plavix, which is sold in partnership with Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA), fell 53 percent to $496 million, as remaining supplies of a copycat made by Canadian drugmaker Apotex Inc. continued to cut into sales. But that is an improvement over earlier quarters, when sales of Plavix plunged more than 70 percent. Apotex is forbidden from shipping any more of its generic, which it introduced in the United States last August, because of an ongoing patent battle in New York federal court. But supplies of its copycat already in warehouses and drugstores continue to be sold. Other products were battered by generic competition in Europe, including cholesterol fighter Pravachol, whose global sales fell 75 percent to $146 million, and cancer drug Taxol, which fell 28 percent to $130 million. Newer products continued to gain popularity, however, including blood pressure treatment Avapro -- also partnered with Sanofi-Aventis -- whose sales rose 11 percent to $307 million. Sales of schizophrenia drug Abilify jumped 62 percent to $362 million, helped by growing demand in Europe and the drug's reputation for not causing weight gains seen with rival products such as Eli Lilly and Co's (NYSE:LLY) Zyprexa. Colon cancer treatment Erbitux, sold in partnership with ImClone Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:IMCL), jumped 38 percent to $167 million, helped by its approval last March for head and neck cancer.
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