Amgen profit falls sharply but tops Street

By Bill Berkrot and Lisa Baertlein

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Amgen Inc (AMGN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported sharply lower third-quarter profit on Wednesday on plunging sales of its most important anemia drugs, amid new insurance-coverage restrictions and ongoing safety concerns, and on restructuring charges.

But the world's largest biotech company by sales exceeded Wall Street's diminished expectations for the quarter.

Amgen posted net income of $201 million, or 18 cents per share, down from a profit of $1.1 billion, or 94 cents per share, a year earlier, as it cut jobs and tightened its belt to compensate for falling sales of its blockbuster anemia drugs.

"We were caught in an unexpected hurricane and we are coming out of it," Amgen Chief Executive Kevin Sharer said in a conference call with analysts.

Excluding stock option expense and other costs, Amgen earned $1.08 per share, topping analysts' average expectations by 5 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

"It's really impressive how they were able to save on the expense line. That's the driver of the earnings, but I'm not sure that's going to get a lot of people excited," said Christopher Raymond, an analyst with Robert W Baird.

Total revenue of $3.6 billion for the quarter was flat from a year ago but slightly better than Wall Street estimates of $3.58 billion.

Amgen shares rose to $58.50, or less than 1 percent, following the report after closing at $58.13 on Nasdaq.