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Warner-Lambert 4Q strong
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January 19, 2000: 8:16 a.m. ET
Embattled drug maker beats estimates, boosts forecast for 2000 earnings
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Warner-Lambert Co., the drug maker in the midst of a major takeover battle, beat estimates on fourth-quarter results Wednesday -- and said it should have a better 2000 than originally expected.
The Morris Plains, N.J., company -- locked in a takeover fight with Pfizer -- had net income of $487.3 million, or 55 cents a diluted share, up from $348.7 million, or 40 cents, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by First Call had been looking for 52 cents a share in the period.
Quarterly revenue rose to $3.5 billion from $3.0 billion.
For the year, the company had net income of $1.7 billion, or $1.96 a diluted share, up from $1.3 billion, or $1.45 a share. Revenue rose to $12.9 billion from $10.7 billion.
Warner-Lambert (WLA) also said it expects 2000 earnings to climb 25 percent to $2.45 a share, higher than the 20 percent increase previously forecast.
"The impressive results we have achieved reflect the particularly strong performance of our pharmaceutical business as well as consistent growth across our consumer businesses," said a statement from Lodewijk J.R. de Vink, the company's chairman, president and chief executive.
The earnings report comes in the wake of a report in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal that the company was in talks with Procter & Gamble (PG) about a merger involving both companies and American Home Products (AHP), with whom Warner-Lambert already has a merger agreement. The deal would be a defense to Pfizer (PFE)'s $77.7 billion unsolicited bid for Warner-Lambert.
Warner Lambert's stock closed Tuesday at 90, down 3-11/16. 
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