Bergen Brunswig Corp., the Orange-based distributor of...

Bergen Brunswig Corp., the Orange-based distributor of pharmaceutical products and prerecorded videocassettes, reported net income of $10.3 million in its second fiscal quarter ended Feb. 29, up 132% from earnings of $4.4 million for the same period a year ago. Revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 1988 increased 12% to $867 million from $777 million in the second quarter of fiscal 1987. The company’s net earnings for the first six months of fiscal 1988 were $18 million, up from $7 million for the first half of fiscal 1987. Revenues for the first half of fiscal 1988 totaled $1.695 billion, compared to $1.560 billion in the same period the previous year. George E. Reinhardt Jr., Bergen Brunswig’s vice president and chief financial officer, attributed the company’s improved financial results to a combination of factors, including a cooling off of price competition within the pharmaceutical industry, improved inventory management and swifter turnover of accounts receivable. Reinhardt said a lowering of the company’s federal tax rate to 40% from 50% as a result of the national tax revision, saved the company close to $1.5 million. He also said Bergen Brunswig realized an after-tax gain of $2 million in its second quarter from the sale of its Medical Supply Co. unit.