Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

This could be ACL’s last quarterly report as an independent company.
ACL is a cash-generation machine, which is why NVS wants it.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idAFN2622714120100726

›Alcon Beats 2Q10 Estimates, Raises Outlook

Mon Jul 26, 2010 6:00pm EDT

LOS ANGELES, July 26 (Reuters) - Eye care products maker Alcon Inc (ACL) reported a 15 percent rise in quarterly profit and raised its 2010 earnings forecast as sales grew in key product areas such as implanted lenses and glaucoma drugs.

Alcon on Monday posted a net profit of $670 million, or $2.21 a share, up from $582 million, or $1.94 a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $2.22 per share, which beat the average analyst estimate of $2.03 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"It looks very strong. In every business unit they beat the consensus and beat our numbers," said Jefferies & Co analyst Joshua Jennings.

Alcon, which Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG (NVS) is buying, saw its second-quarter profit margin rise to 77.4 percent from 75.8 percent in the first quarter and rise about 200 basis points from a year earlier, the analyst said.

Quarterly sales rose 12.5 percent to $1.89 billion.

The company raised its 2010 earnings forecast to between $7.45 and $7.62 a share, from a previous range of $7.30 to $7.55 a share, citing higher organic sales growth.

The planned Novartis acquisition remains contentious as the drugmaker offers minority shareholders substantially less for their Alcon shares than it has agreed to pay Swiss conglomerate Nestle for its majority stake in Alcon.

Jennings said the quarterly results, "provide more mettle to the argument that the offer should be raised."

Shares of Alcon, which closed at $154.24 on the New York Stock Exchange, were not trading after hours.‹