Profit for ICN Pharmaceuticals Declines by 13% : Earnings: Reduction comes despite a 72% increase in revenue. The company says higher expenses are to blame.

Despite a 73% increase in revenue, ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Thursday that higher expenses caused its net income to drop 13% to $3.2 million for the second quarter.

The earnings, about 21 cents a share, were down from $3.7 million, or 28 cents a share, in the second quarter last year. Quarterly revenue soared to $170 million from $98 million last year.

At the same time, the company reported that its subsidiary, ICN Biomedicals Inc., reported a second-quarter loss of more than $669,000, or 3 cents a share, because of the worldwide recession and cuts in research and development in the biomedical industry. The unit posted net income of $1.4 million, or 11 cents a share, in last year’s second quarter.

The Costa Mesa parent company said its revenue was boosted by record earnings of its chief subsidiary, SPI Pharmaceuticals Inc. That unit reported earlier this week that it had second-quarter sales of $151 million, which came mainly from its joint venture interest in ICN Galenika in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

But the joint venture also added to higher expenses at ICN Pharmaceuticals, which paid $7.9 million, or twice last year’s amount, to the minority shareholders in Galenika.

ICN Pharmaceuticals also fell victim to the changing exchange rate in its international operations, losing $6.4 million on the falling value of the dollar. And the company’s income taxes more than tripled to nearly $6 million.

Burke Trafton, a stock analyst for H. J. Meyers & Co. in Beverly Hills, said the earnings were “pretty good,” considering the company’s higher costs.

“I am surprised they were able to make any money,” he said.

Without the taxes and payment to the Galenika minority, the company said it would have had a quarterly profit of $17.1 million, up 94% from $8.8 million the year before.

For the first six months, ICN Pharmaceuticals posted net income of $9.8 million, or 66 cents a share, up 18% from $8.3 million, or 64 cents a share, the year before. Revenue rose 93% to $312.4 million for the first half from $161.4 million last year.

ICN Biomedicals posted quarterly revenue of $19.2 million, down from $25.6 million in last year’s second quarter. For the first six months, the subsidiary lost $1.4 million, or 8 cents a share, contrasted with earnings of $1.9 million, or 16 cents a share, for the previous year. Revenue for the period rose 26% to $40.4 million from $55 million last year.

Viratek Inc., ICN Pharmaceuticals’ third subsidiary, reported earlier this week that it had second-quarter income of $152,000, or 1 cent a share, on revenue of $265,000.