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UPDATE 1-PDL BioPharma swings to Q4 profit on royalties

Mon Mar 2, 2009 4:44pm EST

Stocks

   

* Q4 2008 shr $0.29 vs Q4 2007 loss/shr $0.09

* Q4 profit on higher royalties

* Sees 2009 revenue of $310 mln-$325 mln

* Shares up 19 pct

March 2 (Reuters) - Drug developer PDL BioPharma Inc (PDLI.O) swung to a fourth-quarter profit, helped by higher royalties from its licensed products, sending its shares up 19 percent after the bell.

For the fourth quarter, the company posted a net income of $40.6 million, or 26 cents a share, compared with a loss of $15.6 million, or 9 cents a share, a year ago.

The company earned 34 cents a share in continuing operations. Revenue for the latest quarter rose 75 percent to $68.7 million.

Analysts, on an average, were expecting a profit of 9 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $64.9 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

In the latest quarter, the company said higher sales of cancer drugs Avastin and Herceptin drove higher royalties from Genentech, which markets the drugs.

For 2009, the company, which recently spun off its biotechnology unit into Facet Biotech Corp (FACT.O), expects revenue of $310 million to $325 million, including royalties from seven humanized antibody products.

Analysts, on average were expecting revenue of $345.7 million, for the same period.

Shares of the Incline Village, Nevada-based company were up 19 percent at $6.65, in trading after the bell. They closed at $5.59 Monday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Vidya L Nathan in Bangalore; Editing by Jarshad Kakkrakandy)



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