Valeant posts 2nd-quarter loss as sales slip
Monday August 11, 10:56 am ET
Valeant posts 2nd-quarter loss on lower sales and higher taxes, but shares hit year high
ALISO VIEJO, Calif. (AP) -- Valeant Pharmaceuticals International on Monday reported a second-quarter loss as the company continued to pare its operations by eliminating businesses overseas.
Valeant posted a loss of $74.6 million, or 83 cents per share, compared with a profit of $16.9 million, or 18 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue fell 6 percent to $206.8 million from $220.5 million.
Excluding one-time items, Valeant recorded a loss of 6 cents per share. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a loss of a penny per share.
"Our financial results from this quarter, in aggregate, are poor," said Chief Executive J. Michael Pearson. "However, they are largely a reflection of many of the key components of the turnaround program."
The company's tax costs jumped to $57.1 million, compared with a tax benefit of $7.5 million a year ago.
Valeant reported greater administrative expenses in the second quarter, and the cost of goods sold also increased. Product sales slipped 5 percent, to $192 million, and alliance revenue dropped 22 percent to $14.8 million because the company received fewer royalty payments for sales of the hepatitis C drug ribavirin.
In morning trading, Valeant shares gained 98 cents, or 5.4 percent, to $19.20. They earlier set a high of $19.77. The stock last traded at that price in October 2006.
In February, after Valeant reported a fourth-quarter loss, Pearson said the company was operating in too many regions. It sold its Asia Pacific operations days later. In May, the company announced it would reduce its work force by nearly half, and said it would sell its subsidiaries in Western and Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
surf's up......crikey
