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Bristol, Amgen earnings rise
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April 21, 1999: 10:48 a.m. ET
Drug sales remain encouraging, pushing overall profits above forecasts
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Pharmaceutical and personal-care products maker Bristol-Myers Squibb followed in biotech giant Amgen's footsteps Wednesday, reporting a profit of 53 cents per share, slightly above what Wall Street had expected.
Bristol-Myers (BMY), based in Princeton, N.J., earned $1.06 billion, or 53 cents per fully-diluted share, in the three months ended March 31, a 15-percent upturn from first-quarter 1998 earnings of $927 million, or 46 cents a share.
Earnings came in 1 cent above estimates of 52 cents per share, according to First Call, which tracks analysts' estimates.
The news came soon after fellow drug-maker Amgen (AMGN ) late Tuesday reported first-quarter net income of $247 million, or 46 cents per diluted share, surpassing First Call's figure of 44 cents per share.
In the year-ago quarter, Amgen reported a profit of $187 million, or 35 cents a share. Total revenues for the latest quarter, including royalty payments, rose to $745.5 million compared from $605.4 million in the year-ago period.
Comparatively, Bristol-Myers revenue in the quarter rose 9 percent to $4.9 billion from $4.4 billion a year ago, resulting from a 7-percent increase in sales volume and a 2-percent rise in wholesale prices.
"Bristol-Myers Squibb continued its strong performance in the first quarter, delivering double-digit or greater growth for 16 major products across all our businesses," Charles A. Heimbold Jr., chairman and CEO, said. "We saw excellent growth overall in the United States and Europe, our two largest markets."
Looking forward, Heimbold called the company's research pipeline "vibrant and productive," noting that Bristol-Myers has two drugs awaiting Food & Drug Administration approval and is readying at least one other for official inspection.
Medicinal sales made up the bulk of Bristol-Myers' revenue in the quarter, rising 12 percent to $3.4 billion despite the economic downturn in Latin America. Medical devices and nutritional products both were flat, with nutritional sales in particular hurt by economic conditions in Asia.
On the other hand, Amgen took a more guarded view of its upcoming products. The company said Tuesday that it is discontinuing research into using leptin proteins to treat obesity and diabetes. Amgen is also scrapping its GDNF treatment for Parkinson's disease after early trials "failed to demonstrate benefits for patients."
Bristol-Myers shares opened up 1-3/4, a surge of nearly 3 percent, at 61 Wednesday, defying generally choppy sentiments in the broader pharmaceutical sector.
Amgen shares, however, fell 6-1/16, nearly 9 percent, to 62-15/16 after climbing more than 8 points Tuesday. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter downgraded the company's stock outlook to "neutral" from "outperform." 
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