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Upjohn has right 4Q Rx
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February 10, 1999: 10:50 a.m. ET
Pharmaceutical maker meets Street, credits strong prescription drug sales
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Drug sales were a shot in the arm for Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc., as the pharmaceutical giant matched Wall Street's expectations for fourth-quarter earnings, the company said Wednesday.
Bridgewater, N.J.-based Pharmacia & Upjohn (PNU), maker of Rogaine and Nicorette, said earnings for the quarter before unusual items were $235 million, or 45 cents per share, matching estimates of analysts polled by First Call.
The latest earnings are a 29 percent increase over a year ago, when the company earned $183 million, or 35 cents per share.
For all 1998, earnings before unusual items were $830 million, or $1.58 per share, a 12 percent increase over 1997's $739 million, or $1.41 per share.
In the second quarter, Pharmacia & Upjohn divested 55 percent of its biotech business, which became a separate company, Amersham Pharmacia Biotech.
Fourth-quarter sales, excluding Biotech, were $1.8 billion, a 9 percent increase over the year-ago's $1.7 billion.
For the full year, net sales were $6.7 billion, a 6 percent increase over 1997 after adjustment for Biotech.
The company said the fourth-quarter growth was driven by a 21 percent increase in prescription pharmaceutical sales in the United States. Prescription sales were up 8 percent in Europe and 23 percent in the Asia/Pacific region.
Late in the fourth quarter, the company submitted new drug applications to the Food & Drug Administration for two new anti-cancer therapies. It also launched a $1 billion stock repurchase program and bought back about $100 million of its stock in mid-January as part of the Kingdom of Sweden's divestment of its holding in the company.
"We have delivered on our promise of achieving a turnaround in 1998 and double-digit earnings growth for the full year," CEO Fred Hassan said.
Pharmacia & Upjohn stock was down 9/16 at 52-3/16 in early morning trading. 
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Pharmacia & Upjohn
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