Allergan's 4th-qtr profit falls 6% on 3% sales drop

Allergan's fourth-quarter 2008 profit fell 6% to $150.6 million, or $0.50 per share, as revenue decreased 3% to $1.06 billion. The  California, USA-based company, which makes blockbuster anti-wrinkle  treatment Botox (botulinum toxin A), also announced that it will shed  5% of its work force, a total of 460 jobs, as the economic downturn  affects sales of its mainstay cosmetic offerings.

Fourth-quarter Botox revenues dropped 3.1% to $329.2 million but grew  8.2% to $1.31 billion over the full year, while 2008 turnover of eye  care pharmaceuticals jumped 13.1% to $2.01 billion.

Full-year sales of specialty pharmaceuticals increased 12.8% to $3.50  billion, while the firm's medical devices offering, which includes  breast implants and obesity interventions, grew 8.6% to $837.4 million,  although fourth-quarter sales fell 9.6% to $195.2 million.