Valeant adjusted profit up; raises profit forecast

(Reuters) - Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc , Canada's biggest publicly traded drugmaker, reported a 12 percent rise in adjusted quarterly profit due to higher product sales and raised its full-year adjusted profit forecast.

The acquisitive drugmaker said it now expected an adjusted profit, which it calls cash earnings, of between $5.55 and $5.85 per share, up from its previous forecast of $5.45 to $5.75.

The company earned $405.2 million, or $1.30 per share, on an adjusted basis in the first quarter, a rise of 12 percent from $360.3 million in the same quarter last year.

Total revenue jumped 25 percent to $1.07 billion. Product sales rose 38 percent, driven by robust growth in Poland, Russia, Brazil, South East Asia and South Africa.

"Our emerging markets business performed extremely well in the first quarter," the company said on Thursday.

Valeant said its net loss widened to $27.5 million, or 9 cents per share, from $12.9 million, or 4 cents per share, a year earlier as expenses increased 4 percent, mainly due to the integration of Medicis Pharmaceuticals Corp.

Valeant has been on the acquisition trail since its 2010 takeover by Biovail Corp, which assumed the Valeant name.

It has favored segments where patients often pay out of pocket, such as opthalmology and dermatology -- a strategy that cuts its exposure to cost-sensitive insurers.

However, a proposed merger of Valeant and Actavis Inc , the third-largest global generic drugmaker, was put on hold recently after the companies failed to agree to the terms of a deal, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters last week.

Actavis, formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals, on Thursday reported an adjusted quarterly profit that beat market estimates, helped by several new products, and the company raised its earnings forecast for the full year.

Actavis said on Wednesday it bought the global rights to Valeant's antibiotic vaginal gel for about $55 million.

Valeant on Thursday reiterated its revenue forecast of $4.4 billion to $4.8 billion for the year.

Valeant shares closed at C$74.28 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/valeant-posts-bigger-loss-costs-rise-102326467.html

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