Northern Irish drugmaker Warner Chilcott posted a smaller-than-expected fall in third-quarter earnings today as strong sales of its contraceptives helped offset the negative impact of asset sales.
The women's health specialist, which changed its name from Galen Holdings in June, also said it was on track to hit the top end of its $1.00-$1.10 adjusted earnings per share guidance for the 12 months to September 30.
"We should be around the $1.10 mark," Chief Executive Mr Roger Boissonneault said. Warner Chilcott recently changed its financial year to match the calendar year, meaning it will report results for the 15 months to December 31st.
This morning, Warner Chilcott shares, which have fallen over a third since March, in line with US peers, were 2.9 per cent higher at £5.66, in a mid-cap market up 0.2 per cent.
Earnings per share before goodwill and exceptional items fell 6 per cent to $0.251 cents in the three months to end-June, largely reflecting the recent sale of UK businesses.
Revenues from continuing operations totalled $113.9 million, including strong contributions from Ovcon and Estrostep contraceptive pills, as well as Doryx acne cream and femhrt hormone replacement therapy.
But sales of Sarafem for premenstrual syndrome, which have disappointed analysts since its acquisition in January 2003, slumped 69 per cent to just $6.7 million.