Bergen Brunswig’s Annual Earnings Fall 57% : Restructuring: The Orange-based drug wholesaler reports loss of $13.1 million in quarter ended Aug. 31. The company is retrenching due to flat income.

Bergen Brunswig Corp., retrenching because of slack profit margins, Monday reported that it lost $13.1 million in its fiscal fourth quarter--causing its annual earnings to fall 57%.

The nation’s second-largest drug wholesaler posted net income of $26 million for its fiscal year, which ended Aug. 31, compared with $60.9 million earned in its previous fiscal year. Its earnings per share dropped to 72 cents from $1.53.

The company’s revenue continued to climb, rising 36% to $6.8 billion from $5 billion a year earlier. But most of the increase--$1.4 billion--came from sales at several companies that Bergen acquired during its fiscal year.

Bergen announced two weeks ago that it was restructuring its operations by reducing its 4,000-employee staff by 500 workers and closing or preparing to close up to six of its 35 distribution centers.

The company plans, among other things, to consolidate distribution centers into larger, more efficient regional centers. It already closed, for instance, its San Diego and Las Vegas centers, moving operations to a large Corona facility.

The restructuring was prompted mainly by the bulk, discount buying of large drug store chains and health maintenance organizations. Their buying power has held in check the spiraling costs of drugs, thus keeping income flat at wholesalers like Bergen.

Industry analysts said the figures Bergen released Monday were “in line with expectations” that were revised downward after the company’s previous announcement. The company said it hopes to complete its changeover in the next 18 months.

The restructuring forced the company to take a $20.8-million charge against its fourth-quarter earnings. The company also had a onetime expense of $1.5 million for costs related to its failed bid to acquire Office Commercial Pharmaceutique, Europe’s largest drug distributor.

Those two expenses were the prime cause for a fourth-quarter loss of $13.1 million, or 36 cents a share. The company earned $17.7 million, or 46 cents a share, in the final quarter of the previous year. Quarterly revenue increased 38% to nearly $1.8 billion this year from $1.3 billion last year.

Bergen Brunswig Reports Earnings

In the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, Bergen Brunswig Corp. reported annual profits of $26 million, down from $60.9 million in 1992. Revenue increased 35% to $6.8 billion. The company posted a fourth-quarter loss of $13 million, due to reorganization efforts. Dollar amounts in thousands, except per share data:

4th qtr 4th qtr 12 months 12 months 1992 1993 1992 1993 Revenue $1,340,871 $1,756,409 $5,048,309 $6,823,552 Net income (loss) 17,740 (13,128) 60,864 26,037 Per share (loss) 0.46 (0.36) 1.53 0.72

Source: Bergen Brunswig Corp.; Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times