Orange’s Bergen Brunswig Has Quarter Earnings Dip

Bergen Brunswig Corp. reported a 1% drop Friday in quarterly earnings from continuing operations, despite a record 20% increase in revenue.

The company attributed the slight profit decline in part to the pharmaceutical distributor’s decision to get out of the videocassette distribution business.

Bergen Brunswig, announcing results for its third fiscal quarter, which ended May 31, also said it is in the process of selling its 81% stake in Commtron Corp. in Des Moines, Iowa, to Ingram Industries Inc., a Nashville-based distributor of microcomputers, books and prerecorded videos. That sale of the controlling interest is expected to be finalized June 19, Bergen Brunswig said.

The company’s quarterly profit from continuing operations was $16 million, down from $16.2 million for the same period a year earlier. Earnings per share, however, were up 16%, rising to 41 cents from 38 cents a year earlier.

Earnings from discontinued operations were $1.2 million, the amount of profit the company received from Commtron Corp.’s video distribution. That compared with $1 million in discontinued operations for the third fiscal quarter last year.

Revenue was up a healthy 20%, to a record $1.34 billion, compared to $1.1 billion for the same period a year earlier.

Earnings for the first nine months of the fiscal year were also down after factoring in discontinuing operations. For the nine months ended May 31, the company reported profit from continuing operations of $38.1 million, or 97 cents a share, down 17% from $46.3 million, or $1.03 a share, a year earlier.

Earnings from discontinued operations for the latest nine months were $5 million, up 2% from $4.9 million.

Bergen Brunswig’s stock closed at $19.87 Friday, up 25 cents, in trading on the American Stock Exchange.