NEW YORK (AP) — Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said today its profit climbed 58 percent in the first quarter because of decreased buyout costs and better sales of its multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone.
The world’s largest maker of generic drugs said its profit rose to $713 million, or 79 cents per share, from $451 million, or 51 cents per share. Excluding one-time items, Teva said it earned 91 cents per share. Revenue grew 16 percent, to $3.65 billion from $3.15 billion.
Teva’s one-time costs included $130 million in amortization of purchased assets, legal settlements, and acquisitions costs. The company also posted a one-time tax benefit.
Analysts expected profit of 89 cents per share and $3.7 billion in revenue, according to a Thomson Reuters survey. Analyst estimates usually leave out one-time items.
The Israeli company said sales of Copaxone rose 28 percent to $796 million. It said North American sales grew 20 percent to $2.31 billion, and European sales were up 10 percent to $812 million. Sales in other regions increased 10 percent to $532 million.
Teva credited its North American results to sales of a generic version of the Parkinson’s disease drug Mirapex that was launched during the quarter, along with strong sales of its versions of Adderall XR for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the child asthma medication Pulmicort, Accutane for acne, and the colon cancer drug Eloxatin.
European sales were boosted by sales of Copaxone and the Parkinson’s disease drug Azilect. The company said its other international sales rose because of better sales in Russia.
Teva moved to further boost its overseas sales during the quarter. In March, it agreed to guy German generic drug maker Ratiopharm for about $5 billion.
In the first quarter of 2009, Teva took a series of one-time charges that totaled 20 cents per share. The largest was a $220 million inventory charge related to its acquisition of Barr Pharmaceuticals.
