Schering-Plough profit jumps far above forecasts

Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan in a file photo. The company on Thursday posted a 55 percent rise in first-quarter earnings, beating analysts' estimates on sharply higher sales of its prescription drugs, including two cholesterol fighters sold in partnership with Merck & Co.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Schering-Plough Corp. SGP.N on Thursday posted a 55 percent rise in first-quarter earnings, beating analysts' estimates on sharply higher sales of its prescription drugs, including two cholesterol fighters sold in partnership with Merck & Co. (MRK.N)

Profit increased to $543 million, or 36 cents per share, from $350 million, or 24 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding charges of $96 million related to three upfront licensing payments included in research and development, the Kenilworth, New Jersey-based drug maker earned 42 cents per share.

Analysts on average expected Schering-Plough to report 29 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Sales in the period jumped 17 percent over last year to $3.0 billion before revenue from cholesterol drugs Vytorin and Zetia which the drugmaker markets with Merck. Sales would have jumped 21 percent in the period including the co-marketed medicines.

The drugmaker also got a boost from inflammatory medicine Remicade, which jumped 34 percent to $373 million in the first quarter, and a 24 percent rise in sales of Nasonex to $284 million.

"We continue to like the Schering-Plough story and believe Schering-Plough shares represent an attractive risk/reward profile for aggressive investors," A.G. Edwards analyst Joseph Tooley said in a research note, reiterating his "buy" rating on the drugmaker.

Tooley noted the company announced late on Wednesday that it will begin this year late-stage trials on a promising experimental drug to prevent blood clots. Schering-Plough has said the medicine has potential to achieve annual sales in the billions of dollars, if the trials succeed and it is approved.

Schering-Plough shares closed at $28.55 on Wednesday and are up about 53 percent over the last 12 months, significantly outpacing the 12 percent rise in the American Stock Exchange pharmaceutical index .DRG over the same period.