Amgen’s Second-Quarter Profit Plummets 87%

Amgen said its profit in the second quarter ended Sept. 30 was off 87% from an unusually strong quarter a year earlier. The Newbury Park biotechnology firm said its earnings were cut by increased expenses and reduced revenue from its partnerships with other companies on development projects.

Amgen’s profit for the most recent quarter was $295,000, or 2 cents a share, on revenue of $7.4 million. A year earlier, net income was $2.3 million, or 20 cents a share, on revenue of $7.5 million.

But for the first six months of its fiscal year, the company’s results were improved from 1985. Earnings were $769,000, or 5 cents a share, against $258,000, or 2 cents a share a year earlier, when the company had an unprofitable first quarter.

Revenue rose to $15.2 million from $10.9 million in the first half of 1985.

Philip J. Whitcome, Amgen’s director of strategic planning, said the company’s higher expenses stemmed from the cost of testing five Amgen products as a precursor to getting government approval to market them.

He said the company’s partnership revenue will continue to fluctuate widely, and that the company’s goal is to break even until it can get approval to bring its products to market.