THOUSAND OAKS (dpa-AFX) - Amgen Inc. (AMGN) Tuesday reported a sharply higher profit for the third quarter, on sustained sales growth of key arthritis drug Enbrel, bone loss therapy Xgeva, and contribution from growth phase drug Sensipar/Mimpara used to treat hyperparathyroidism.
Meanwhile, sales of infection drug Neupogen declined owing to weak demand in Europe, and growth slackened for its anemia drug Aranesp. The prior-year results bore the impact of hefty legal expenses. Amgen's quarterly earnings as well as revenues trumped Street estimates.
Moving forward, Amgen once again raised its adjusted earnings and revenue outlook for the fiscal year 2012.
Amgen's revenue for the quarter jumped 10 percent from last year. Total product sales were up 8 percent from last year, led by growth across its drug portfolio.
Sales of rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel increased 17 percent from last year on higher price and unit demand.
Sales of lead infection drugs Neulasta and Neupogen edged up 1 percent from last year. Neulasta sales grew 4 percent on higher prices in the U.S., while Neupogen sales declined 6 percent.
Sales of growth-phase products that include Sensipar/Mimpara increased 17 percent from last year on higher unit demand.
Amgen's anemia drug Aranesp dropped 17 percent due to changes in practice patterns and a favorable change in accounting estimates last year. Epogen, another anemia drug, edged up 3 percent.
Thousand Oaks, California-based Amgen reported third-quarter net income of $1.1 billion or $1.41 per share, compared with $454 million or $0.50 per share last year.
Results for the prior-year quarter were impacted by $780 million in expenses related to legal proceedings.
Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $1.3 billion or $1.67 per share, compared with $1.28 billion or $1.40 per share last year.
On average, 21 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.47 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Amgen reported quarterly revenues of $4.32 billion, up from $3.94 billion last year. Nineteen analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $4.25 billion.
For the full year 2012, Amgen now expects adjusted earnings of $6.50 to $6.60 per share and revenues of $17.2 billion to $17.3 billion. The drug maker had earlier estimated adjusted earnings of $6.20 to $6.35 per share and revenues of $16.9 billion to $17.2 billion.
Street analysts currently expect earnings of $6.35 per share on revenues of $17.04 billion for the full year.
AMGN closed Tuesday at $87.27, down 0.60%, on a volume of 3.9 million shares. In after hours, the stock gained 0.82%. In the past year, the stock has traded in a range of $54.59 - $89.95.
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