SPI’s Net Income Shows 15% Increase for Fiscal 1990

On the strength of growing international sales, SPI Pharmaceuticals on Monday reported net income of $14.9 million in its last fiscal year, up 15% from $12.9 million the previous year.

The Costa Mesa-based subsidiary of ICN Pharmaceuticals registered gains in all of its major prescription pharmaceutical product lines, and reported sales of $140.7 million for the year ended Nov. 30, up 13.5% from $124 million a year earlier.

In the fourth quarter SPI’s net income increased 27% to $4.7 million from $3.7 million for the same period a year ago, while sales grew 24% to $43.6 million from $35 million.

The company said its sales growth was led by international operations, which were up 18% over last year. Sales to Mexico increased 20%, driven by increased demand for anti-infection drugs, the company said. Demand for the company’s leading anti-viral drug ribavirin in Mexico was spurred by a measles epidemic in the first half of the year and an increase in respiratory infection during the second half.

The company also said sales in Spain, Holland and Canada were substantially higher, while domestic sales of SPI prescription pharmaceutical products were up 28%.

Robert Back, chief investment officer for The Backfocus Organization, a money manager and research organization in Wheaton, Ill., said SPI’s earnings and sales results are “right on target” with expectations.

The investment community reacted favorably to the earnings. SPI’s stock price rose by $1.375 on Monday, closing at $13 a share in trading on the American Stock Exchange.