Syncor Profit Plunges 95% for Quarter; Sales Up 8%

Syncor International, a Chatsworth company that provides specialized pharmaceuticals through a nationwide chain of outlets, said its fiscal second-quarter profit plunged 95% from a year earlier despite an 8% gain in sales.

In the three months that ended Nov. 30, Syncor’s net income fell to $56,000, or less than a penny a share, from $1.08 million, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $27.4 million from $25.5 million.

“Increased labor costs are the major contributor to lower earnings,” Syncor Chairman Monty Fu said in a statement. Despite the impact on profits, Syncor continues recruiting personnel to “minimize the long-term impact of nationwide shortages of qualified personnel and to maintain staffing levels appropriate to our growth expectations,” he said.

For the first half of its fiscal year, Syncor’s profit tumbled to $151,000, or 2 cents a share, from $2.12 million, or 19 cents a share, a year earlier. Six-month sales climbed to $54.5 million from $51.2 million.