ICN Reports $13.4-Million Net Earnings on Revenues Up 64%

ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported net earnings of $13.4 million for the fiscal year ended Nov. 30, contrasted with a year-earlier net loss of $18.3 million. The Costa Mesa drug company’s fiscal 1986 revenues rose 64% to $102.8 million from $62.8 million a year earlier. About $20 million of that increase resulted from federal approval in early 1986 of the drug Virazole as a treatment for an infant respiratory ailment, said John Giordani, ICN’s chief financial officer.

The 1986 earnings include $4 million in tax loss carry-forwards while the fiscal 1985 loss included the write-off of $13.7 million in good will, relating primarily to overseas acquisitions, Giordani said.

For the fiscal fourth quarter, ICN reported net earnings of $6.1 million, contrasted with a $20.2-million net loss a year earlier. The fourth-quarter profit included $3 million in tax loss carry-forwards, Giordani said.

Quarterly revenues increased 85% to $33.3 million from $18 million during the like quarter of ICN’s fiscal 1985.

ICN last week said the results of clinical trials of Virazole indicated that the drug--also known as ribavirin--may halt development of AIDS in infected patients. If the drug is approved for use in AIDS cases, ICN’s revenues could be dramatically affected.