1991 Profits Double for Drug Maker : Earnings: SPI Pharmaceuticals, which posted record net income, gives part of credit to joint venture in Eastern Europe.

Buoyed by its success in Eastern Europe, SPI Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Monday that its 1991 profits doubled to $30 million.

The Costa Mesa manufacturer and distributor of pharmaceutical products posted a record net income of $30.12 million, equal to $1.73 a share, up 102% from $14.92 million, or 95 cents a share, in 1990.

Revenue for the year reached $364.35 million, up 158% from $140.71 million in 1990.

The company, a subsidiary of ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., said its fourth-quarter results would be delayed a few days because of a shift in its financial reporting. In 1991, it switched to reporting on a calendar-year basis instead of using a fiscal year, which ended Nov. 30.

SPI attributed part of its record-breaking sales to its profitable joint venture with Yugoslavia’s Galenika Pharmaceuticals--ICN Galenika--which began operating last May. Although he declined to specify Eastern European sales, ICN Pharmaceuticals’ chief financial officer, John E. Giordano, said that region accounted for a “significant percentage” of the company’s sales last year.

SPI said sales of its top 10 products--including vitamins, antibiotics and antiviral drugs--rose to $126 million from $49 million in 1990. These products accounted for more than a third of the company’s total sales, Giordano said.

SPI also eliminated certain nutritional product lines--mostly vitamins that accounted for 1% of sales--to concentrate on more profitable products, said spokesman Paul Knopick. This will result in a onetime charge of $11 million in the fourth quarter, he said.

SPI is expected to announce today the opening of a $17-million pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Barcelona, Spain--joining two other drug-making facilities that SPI uses in the Netherlands and Yugoslavia. The company is also negotiating to establish a joint venture with a major pharmaceutical company in Russia.

The investment community reacted favorably. SPI shares rose by 50 cents Monday, closing at $29.75 per share in trading on the American Stock Exchange.

European Sales Aid Profitability

SPI Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported profits of $30.1 million as its revenues soared by 158% to $364.3 million. The company said it benefited from increased sales in Eastern Europe through its joint venture in Yugoslavia.

(Dollars in thousands, except per-share data)

Percent 1991 1990 Change Total revenue $364,358 $140,716 158% Net earnings 30,126 14,920 102% Earnings per share 1.73 0.95 82.1%

Source: SPI Pharmaceuticals Inc.