Allergan Announces Loss, Layoffs

Allergan reported Wednesday a $10.2-million loss for the fourth quarter and said it would shut down a manufacturing plant in Irvine and eliminate 210 positions there over the next year.

The company, which makes eye-care and skin-care products, said it would also reduce 300 jobs worldwide as part of an effort to reduce expenses.

To cover the costs of layoffs and the discontinuation of several products, Allergan took a one-time charge of $22.8 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31. The charge contributed to the quarterly loss, which contrasted with a $32.8-million profit in the same quarter a year earlier.

For all of 1989, Allergan made $57 million on revenue of $807 million, compared to a profit of $72 million on sales of $756 million a year earlier. Allergan--formerly a division of SmithKline Beckman--has been an independent company only since July of last year.

Earnings and sales figures for 1988 are estimates of how Allergan would have done if it been a publicly traded company then.