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Bextra contributes to Pfizer drop
A big fall in first-quarter profits is in part because of the pain reliever being pulled at the request of the FDA.
Associated Press
Published April 20, 2005
NEW YORK - Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest drug company, reported Tuesday an 87 percent plunge in first-quarter profits, partly because of its now withdrawn pain reliever Bextra, which it said will drive full-year earnings below its previously announced forecast.
The company took a $2.19-billion charge to repatriate $28.3-billion in overseas cash and a $622-million charge related to its 2003 purchase of Pharmacia.
It also recorded a $766-million charge for halting Bextra sales at the request of the Food and Drug Administration, which had concerns about the drug's links to higher risk of heart attacks and a serious skin condition.
Excluding charges, Pfizer earned 54 cents a share, beating by a penny the estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. But Pfizer reduced its 2005 after-charges estimate to $1.98 a share from its previous estimate of $2 a share, citing the Bextra withdrawal. That translates to a 7 percent drop in earnings from a year ago.
Pfizer shares fell 18 cents to close at $27.42 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Quarterly revenue growth was driven by several drugs including cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor, which recorded a 23-percent jump in sales to $3.1-billion. Generic competition squelched sales of former blockbusters Neurontin, a treatment for epilepsy and pain, as well as Diflucan, an antifungal agent.
Bextra sales collapsed 79 percent to $56-million, while sales of Celebrex, another pain reliever linked to a higher risk of heart problems, fell 47 percent to $411-million.
Pfizer executives have repeatedly said 2005 would be a transitional year as the company struggles with patent losses and awaits approvals for experimental drugs. But they expect 2005 revenues to be on par with the $52.52-billion reported last year.
Burt Hazlett, an analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, said Pfizer can maintain revenues if Lipitor sales remain strong and Lyrica, a new, nerve pain medication due out this year, performs well.
This month, Pfizer announced a plan to cut $4-billion in costs by 2008 to return the company to double-digit earnings growth in 2006 and 2007. Hazlett thinks new drugs expected next year including medicines for insomnia and diabetes will help Pfizer meet that target.
[Last modified April 20, 2005, 02:56:36]
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