The Allergan logo is seen in this photo illustration November 23, 2015. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration/File Photo
May 7, 2019
(Reuters) – Allergan Plc reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday and raised its profit and revenue forecasts for the year, fueled by higher sales of its growth driver Botox.
The company’s medical aesthetics unit, which includes top-seller Botox, brought in sales of $648.2 million for the quarter, a 2 percent rise from a year ago.
Excluding items, the company earned $3.79 per share, well above the average analyst estimate of $3.55, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
The company’s net loss, however, widened to $2.41 billion in the first quarter, hit by a $2.5 billion charge related to the clinical failure of its depression treatment candidate rapastinel. The company had posted a loss of $332.5 million a year earlier.
Revenue fell 2 percent to $3.59 billion but beat the average Wall Street estimate of $3.54 billion.
The company said it now expects 2019 adjusted profit to be greater than $16.55 per share, compared with its prior expectation of profit greater than or equal to $16.36 per share.
Allergan now expects 2019 sales between $15.13 billion and $15.43 billion, compared with its prior forecast of $15.00 billion to $15.30 billion.
(Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
