Forest Labs 3rd-qtr earnings leap 53%, with sales boosted by Namenda

US drugmaker Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) says that its third-quarter fiscal 2011 net income leapt 53% to $320.7 million, or up 46% to $1.11 a share compared with the year-earlier period, after taking a charge for a new product licensing fee of $66.1 million or $0.23 per share, net of tax. Net sales for the quarter increased 6.7% to $1.06 billion.

Excluding a one-time charge of $0.23, Forest earned $1.34 a share. Revenue increased by 7% to $1.1 billion, from $997 million. Consensus forecast from Wall Street expected earnings per share of $0.99 cents and revenue of $1.1 billion, according to a survey by FactSet Research.

Reported EPS in the third quarter of fiscal 2010 was $0.69 after charges for a new product licensing fee of $75.0 million, or $0.25 per share net of tax, related to a licensing agreement with Spain’s Almirall for LAS100977, for the treatment of both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); and certain restructuring costs related to Forest’s Long Island packaging facility of $14.0 million, or $0.03 per share net of tax.