Forest Labs profit plunges as Lexapro loses patent

18 April 2012

US drugmaker Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) that reported earnings per share equaled $0.72 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, down a sharp 36% from $1.12 in the like, year-earlier quarter. Excluding acquisition related amortization, non-GAAP EPS in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2012 equaled $0.78 as compared with $1.14 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011.

Revenues fell 7.3% to $1.06 billion from the year-earlier quarter, impacted by the arrival of generic versions of its best-selling anti-depressant Lexapro (escitalopram), which came to market during the reporting quarter.

Notwithstanding, Forest’s share rose 2.8% to $34.60 in morning trading yesterday, as analysts had anticipated the downturn due to Lexapro. Analysts polled by FactSet Research had expected the firm to earn $0.70 a share on revenue of $1.02 billion.

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