Net Income Jumps for SPI Pharmaceuticals

Continuing an earnings upswing begun when the company went public in 1983, SPI Pharmaceuticals Inc., a small Costa Mesa pharmaceutical manufacturer, reported a near doubling of net income and sales for its third fiscal quarter compared to the same period a year ago.

Third quarter earnings for SPI, which is owned 85% by the larger Costa Mesa-based ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., jumped to $730,000 from $376,000 a year ago. Sales for the period ended Aug. 31 were $11.2 million, up from $5.7 million.

The company’s income for the first nine months of its 1985 fiscal year was $2.8 million, a 110% increase over $1.3 million during the same period of fiscal 1984. Similarly, sales increased to $33.6 million, up 107% from $16.2 million.

SPI spokesman Dominic Liuzzi attributed the company’s expanded earnings largely to an intensification of marketing efforts, funded in part by the $3 million the company raised from a stock offering when it went public in October, 1983.

In the last nine months, Liuzzi said, SPI doubled its marketing expenditures to $12 million from $6 million.

The company’s strategy of increasing its investment in sales has paid off, Liuzzi said, and SPI expects to end its 1985 fiscal year with about $47 million in sales, compared to sales of $18.5 million for fiscal 1983.