Bristol-Myers Profit Falls 4.2% on Restructure Costs (Update2)
By Beth Jinks
April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., the maker of the top-selling blood thinner Plavix, said profit fell 4.2 percent on restructuring costs and announced it would sell as much as 20 percent of its infant-formula unit.
Net income fell to $661 million, or 33 cents a share, from $690 million, or 35 cents a year earlier, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Earnings excluding some items beat analysts' estimates by 1 cent.
The results included $113 million in charges as the company cut jobs, shut plants and shed products to deliver $1.5 billion in annual savings before 2012. That's when Plavix, with $4 billion in yearly revenue, loses patent protection. Total sales climbed to $5.18 billion from $4.48 billion as the company recovers from temporary competition to Plavix from a generic- drug maker last year.
``We've seen decent growth in Plavix,'' said Linda Bannister, an analyst with Edward Jones & Co. in Des Peres, Missouri, in a telephone interview. ``They're benefiting from stents, because people with the devices are now taking Plavix for a longer period of time.''
The company rose 11 cents, to $21.43, yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has dropped 25 percent in 12 months.
Mead Johnson
Bristol-Myers also said it plans an initial public offering of a minority stake in its infant-formula division, Mead Johnson Nutritionals. The company said in December it was considering options including the possibility of a sale for the unit, as well as for ConvaTec, its wound-care subsidiary. The company sold its medical imaging business in January, as it raises cash to invest in developing new medicines
``This allows Mead Johnson Nutritionals to implement its growth plans, increase shareholder value, and maintain its important financial contribution to Bristol-Myers,'' company spokesman Brian Henry said today in a telephone interview.
Bristol-Myers booked a first-quarter charge of $25 million, writing off more auction-rate securities. In last year's fourth quarter, Bristol-Myers booked $275 million in charges related to the securities. The company also reported $142 million in unrealized losses, mostly on auction-rate securities.
Sales of Plavix, comarketed with Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis SA, climbed 39 percent to $1.31 billion in the first quarter, from $938 million a year earlier, when supplies of the cheaper generic version made by Apotex Inc. were temporarily available.
Bristol-Myers reiterated its 2008 forecast for net earnings of $1.36 to $1.46 a share.
To contact the reporter on this story: Beth Jinks in New York at bjinks1@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: April 24, 2008 08:07 EDT
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