Lundbeck sales of new products up more than 70%, but earnings miss expectations

Denmark-based CNS drug specialist Lundbeck (LUND: DC) saw its shares drift 1.2% lower to 87.55 Danish kroner in early trading yesterday, after the company posted a 28% drop in fourth-quarter net profit following the loss of patent exclusivity in the USA for its former top-selling antidepressant Lexapro (escitalopram).

Net profit for the fourth quarter came in at 146 million kroner ($26.8 million), down 28% and well below analysts’ forecasts of 371.1 million kroner. Revenue edged up 0.5% to 3.85 billion kroner, beating analysts’ expectations of 371.1 billion kroner.

The company said that financial results for 2012 are in line with expectations for the year, excluding restructuring charges. Revenue for 2012 was 14.23 billion kroner ($2.61 billion), excluding Lexapro in the USA, which is an increase of 6% compared with 2011. Growth was driven primarily by Lundbeck's new products, which generated revenue of 2.14 billion kroner, an increase of 71%. Fir the final quarter, new products brought in sales of 582 million kroner. EBIT for 2012 was 2.18 billion kroner, excluding restructuring costs. This corresponds to an EBIT margin of 14.7% for the year.