Barr posts loss on charges for Pliva acquisition

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NEW YORK, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. BRL.N posted a quarterly net loss on Wednesday, hurt by charges related to its acquisition of Pliva, but its adjusted earnings and revenue outpaced Wall Street estimates.

Barr, which makes generic and branded drugs, reported a net loss of $390.9 million, or $3.67 per share, compared with net earnings of $94.9 million, or 88 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Barr said adjusted earnings were 83 cents per share, 10 cents ahead of the average estimate of analysts, according to Reuters Estimates.

Barr's acquisition of Croatian drugmaker Pliva last year made the company the world's third-largest generic drug manufacturer. Barr recorded a $381 million charge in the quarter related to the Pliva deal.

Revenue jumped 79 percent to $584 million, compared with the analysts' estimate of $522 million. Generic product sales more than doubled to $439 million, helped by sales of Pliva products.

The company saw strong sales of a newly launched generic version of the Actiq pain treatment.

Sales of Barr's generic oral contraceptives rose 19 percent to $114 million.

Barr is changing its fiscal year, which had ended in June, to a regular calendar year.

The company forecast adjusted 2007 earnings in a range of about $3.00 to $3.30 per share on total revenue of $2.3 billion to $2.4 billion.

Analysts expect revenue of about $2.54 billion.

((Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; editing by Derek Caney; Reuters Messaging: Lewis.Krauskopf.reuters.com@reuters.net; lewis.krauskopf@reuters.com; 646-223-6082))

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