CORRECTED - UPDATE 2-Forest Labs profit falls, outlook trails St.

Tue Oct 20, 2009 2:16pm EDT
 
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(Corrects to remove references in headline, bullet, story to results beating analyst estimates)

* Q3 net $0.61 vs $0.80 year ago

* Revenue rises to $1.06 bln from $992.5 mln

* Paid $100 mln license fee (Updates with outlook, details on drug sales)

NEW YORK, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Drugmaker Forest Laboratories Inc (FRX.N) reported lower quarterly profit on Tuesday, hurt by one-time items, and gave an outlook below analysts' forecasts.

Net income fell to $186.7 million, or 61 cents per share, in the second quarter ended Sept. 30 from $244.1 million, or 80 cents per share, a year earlier.

Profit was reduced by 24 cents a share in special items, including a $100 million license fee from a previously announced deal with Nycomed A/S [NYCMD.UL].

Revenue rose to $1.06 billion from $992.5 million, while net sales rose 4 percent to $962.7 million.

Sales of Lexapro, an anti-anxiety medication, fell 3.1 percent to $566.0 million, just shy of analysts' forecast for $567.7 million. But sales of Namenda, an Alzheimer's treatment, jumped 11.9 percent to $275.3 million, beating estimates of $263.7 million.

The company said it also beat its own expectations for sales of new drugs Bystolic, a hypertension treatment, and Savella, a fibromyalgia medication.

Forest issued a revised outlook for the year ending March 31, saying it now sees earnings per share of $3.40 to $3.50. That was slightly below analysts' forecasts of $3.52.

The company said it still expected revenue of $4.1 billion, in line with Wall Street forecasts. (Reporting by Christopher Kaufman, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Lisa Von Ahn)

 

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