Income Jumps $56% for Drug Firm Subsidiary

Citing strong sales in its entire line of drugs, SPI Pharmaceuticals Inc., the Costa Mesa-based marketing and distribution subsidiary of ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., Monday reported net income jumped 56% to $724,000, from $465,000 in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue more than doubled in the first fiscal quarter ended Feb. 28 to $10.5 million, from $4.2 million a year ago.

Earlier this year, SPI’s board of directors approved a two-for-one stock split and increased annual dividends to 6 cents to reflect the company’s surging performance. The major beneficiary of the move was ICN Pharmaceuticals, which owns 88% of SPI’s stock.