Drugmaker Biogen Idec 4Q profit surges Biogen Idec Inc. on Wednesday said its fourth-quarter profit jumped 84 percent on strong sales of the company's two leading drugs, and a gain from a multiple sclerosis drug that returned to the market after being temporarily withdrawn over safety concerns.
The results, which beat Wall Street expectations, come as the biotechnology company remains under pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn to find a large pharmaceutical firm willing to make a buyout offer.
Icahn on Jan. 28 accused Biogen Idec of rigging its recent search to find a bidder so that it was doomed to fail. On a conference call with analysts Wednesday, Biogen Idec Chief Executive James Mullen said no buyers emerged because risks surrounding the MS drug Tysabri scared off potential bidders.
Biogen Idec shares rose $1.49, or 2.5 percent, to $62.01 in morning trading Wednesday.
The Cambridge-based company reported net income of $201.2 million, or 67 cents per share, compared with a profit of $108.6 million, or 32 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Revenue rose 26 percent to $893.3 million from $708.3 million.
Excluding various one-time items including merger-related costs and stock option expenses in both quarters, Biogen Idec's profit rose 45 percent to $266 million, or 89 cents per share, up from $184 million, or 53 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.
On that basis, the latest quarter's performance beat the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who expected a profit of 80 cents per share and revenue of $836.2 million.
Biogen Idec's revenue gain was led by a 17 percent increase in Biogen Idec's share of sales of Rituxan, a treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis that the company co-promotes in the U.S. with Genentech Inc. Biogen Idec's share of quarterly Rituxan revenue was $254 million.
Biogen Idec's top-selling drug, a 12-year-old MS treatment called Avonex, recorded a 15 percent sales gain to $503 million.
Tysabri, for which Biogen Idec shares rights with Ireland's Elan Corp., generated fourth-quarter revenue of $90 million for Biogen, up from $18 million in the year-ago quarter.
Tysabri had been seen as a potential blockbuster before it was withdrawn three years ago after two clinical trial patients died of a rare brain disorder. U.S. and European authorities approved Tysabri's reintroduction in June 2006, but with restrictions to monitor patients for symptoms of the brain disease.
About 21,000 patients were on Tysabri as of the end of last year, up from 17,000 at the end of September. Biogen Idec hopes to have 100,000 patients by the end of 2010.
Although no new cases of the brain disorder have turned up since Tysabri's return, Mullen told analysts Wednesday that continuing safety concerns were the key reason a recent two-month search for a buyer failed to yield any offers. Many analysts had expected big drugmakers would be enticed to offer $20 billion or more to bolster their slow-growing portfolios with a biotech company boasting a robust pipeline of drugs in development.
"I think it's clear that for those few major pharmas who could afford an acquisition of our size, the perceived risk profile of Tysabri at this time was simply too great," Mullen said. "As a result, the company is moving forward."
Mullen said Biogen Idec would "continue to explore all of our opportunities," and called his company's future is "extremely bright."
Mullen defended the failed search for a buyer as "professional, objective and thorough," with nearly 20 potential buyers contacted.
Icahn helped trigger Biogen Idec's search for a buyer after snapping up millions of the company's shares last summer. Last month, he submitted names of three supporters he hopes will be elected to Biogen's board, and he holds about a 4 percent stake of Biogen's shares.
Cisco 2Q profit matches Wall Street forecast, but sales slowdown spooks investors
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Cisco Systems Inc.'s second-quarter profit matched Wall Street's subdued expectations, but shares of the world's largest Internet networking supplier plunged on signs of a sales growth slowdown.
The San Jose-based company's guidance of 10 percent sales growth in the third fiscal quarter fell below the 15 percent projection by Wall Street analysts.
The forecast disappointed investors, who viewed it as a sign technology spending will continue to weaken as companies gird for a possible recession in the U.S.
Cisco executives acknowledged many companies are being cautious about investing in new Internet equipment, but they predicted growth will soon pick up again, helped by surging demand in emerging markets.
Cisco shares sank on the gloomy outlook, falling $1.77, or nearly 8 percent, to $21.31 in after-hours trading. It had slipped 18 cents to close at $23.08 during the regular trading session, before the results were released.
Investors have punished Cisco's stock severely during the past four months on fears the San Jose-based company isn't as well insulated from U.S. economic pressures as previously thought.
The company's market value has been chopped by one-third, falling from more than $200 billion in November to around $140 billion today. The stock plunge was triggered by a troubling assessment of U.S. tech spending offered by Cisco CEO John Chambers after the company's last earnings report.
Cisco said Wednesday that its net income was $2.06 billion, or 33 cents per share, during the three months ended Jan. 26. That's e all the operating rooms so he worked out a deal with the clinic.
He points out that close to 1,600 patients are on a waiting list for surgery some of them with cancer.
Couillard, who is also a neurosurgeon, said the costs for using the private clinic would be about the same ''or even a little cheaper.''
He added that what should be sacred is the principle of ''whether you are rich or poor, you should have the same access to care.''
Khadir suggested Quebec follow Ontario's example which he said has ''centralized'' appointments and ''prioritized'' surgeries.
''If you centralize the appointments on a regional or national level, you speed up the system,'' he said.
''If the political will is there, you can reduce the waiting lists.''
Khadir said he wonders why the province has not implemented the Ontario innovation.
The agreement between the Montreal clinic and the hospital to make an operating room available twice a week will be re-evaluated in six months.
Devon Energy Q4 Earnings Climb 126% Devon Energy (DVN) on Wednesday reported fourth quarter net earnings that rose 126% to $1.3 billion from $0.58 billion in the prior year quarter.
Net earnings applicable to common shareholders grew to $1.31 billion or $2.92 per share from $0.57 billion or $1.29 per share in the year-ago period.
On average, 26 analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial expected the company to report earnings of $1.92 per share.
Electronic Data Net Falls 13%; Sales Miss Estimates Electronic Data Systems Corp., the second-biggest computer-services provider, reported fourth- quarter profit and gave a forecast for this period that missed estimates after sales fell in North America. The shares slumped 4.2 percent.
Net income declined to $189 million, or 36 cents a share, from $217 million, or 40 cents, a year earlier, the Plano, Texas-based company said today in a statement. Revenue gained 2.2 percent to $5.83 billion, missing analysts' estimates.
Sales fell 8 percent in North and South America after Verizon Communications Inc. ended a contract last year for Electronic Data to manage its computer systems. Chief Executive Officer Ronald Rittenmeyer is firing workers and shifting jobs to lower-cost countries such as India to curb expenses and fight larger rival International Business Machines Corp.
``These results aren't something to get the stock moving,'' said Cynthia Houlton, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in New York. She rates the shares ``sector perform'' and doesn't own them.
Excluding costs such as an early retirement plan, profit rose to 55 cents a share, missing the average estimate of 57 cents in a survey of analysts by Bloomberg. Analysts predicted sales of $5.88 billion.
Electronic Data fell 82 cents to $18.79 in extended trading. The stock closed at $19.61 on the New York Stock Exchange and has declined 5.4 percent this year.
Annual Forecast
For the year, Electronic Data said revenue will rise about 2 percent, indicating sales of $22.6 billion. Profit, excluding some items, will fall to $1.35 a share, reiterating a forecast given in November. Analysts estimated revenue of $22.7 billion and earnings of $1.53 a share.
``We clearly are not satisfied with the pace of improvement,'' said Rittenmeyer, 60.
Earnings in the first quarter will fall to about 5 cents a share, including costs of 8 cents for job cuts, Electronic Data said. That compares with the average estimate of 25 cents among analysts.
Electronic Data said it signed $6.1 billion of contracts in the fourth quarter, down from $7.6 billion a year earlier. Revenue in Europe and the Middle East increased 3 percent to $1.77 billion, and sales in Asia rose 16 percent to $478 million.
``At this point, from a macroeconomic standpoint, we haven't seen anything that puts us in a serious state of concern,'' Rittenmeyer said.
Eliminating Jobs
Rittenmeyer, who replaced Michael Jordan in September, plans to cut costs and eliminate jobs in the U.S. this year. Electronic Data said in November that about 2,500 of the 12,000 U.S. workers offered early retirement last year will accept the proposal. The reductions may help save about $125 million a year.
Electronic Data said that the cuts also will result in a one-time expense of as much as $250 million this year. The company had 139,000 employees at the end of last quarter, with 41,000 in lower-cost locations such as India.
The contract with Verizon Communications, the second- biggest U.S. telephone company, was part of a $12.4 billion agreement signed in 1999 with WorldCom Inc., which was renamed MCI after bankruptcy and later bought by Verizon.
Electronic Data won a $715 million agreement with drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in December to help manage information technology. Last month, the company renewed a 582 million euro ($852 million) contract to manage communications technology for the Flemish government.
To bolster growth, Electronic Data said in November it would pay $420 million for Saber Holdings Inc. to add software for government operations and elections.
Time Warner Cable Profit Up 23 Percent Time Warner Cable Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings rose 23 percent as more customers expanded from cable television to broadband Internet and phone services.
The cable company, majority owned by media conglomerate Time Warner Inc., said net income increased to $327 million, or 33 cents per share, from $266 million, or 27 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Analysts expected earnings of 30 cents per share, according to Thomson Financial.
Revenue rose 12 percent to $4.1 billion from $3.65 billion. Wall Street expected $4.12 billion. An increase in broadband Internet service and Internet telephone paced the gains.
For all of 2007, net income fell to $1.12 billion, or $1.15 per share, from $2 billion, or $2 per share, last year, which included $1.04 billion from businesses Time Warner Cable no longer operates. Revenue rose 36 percent to $16 billion. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5517854.html
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