Lilly’s Profit Rises 23% on Increased Sales

Drug maker Eli Lilly & Co. on Thursday reported higher fourth-quarter profit, powered by increased sales of the antidepressant Prozac and several new drugs, narrowly missing Wall Street expectations.

Lilly said it earned $457 million in the fourth quarter, up 23% from a year ago and equal to 40 cents a diluted share. Sales for the quarter rose 17% to $2.42 billion.

A year earlier, Lilly earned $373 million, or 33 cents a diluted share.

Quarterly earnings were just shy of the 42 cents per diluted share expected by Wall Street analysts.

Lilly’s stock fell 19 cents to close at $67.94 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Lilly said the increase in sales was led by three new products: Gemzar, for pancreatic cancer; ReoPro, a blood-clot buster that Lilly markets for Centocor Inc.; and Zyprexa for schizophrenia.

Worldwide Prozac sales for the year were $2.56 billion, up 9% over a year ago, and account for 30% of Lilly’s total annual sales of $8.52 billion.

At a Glance: Retailing

Pleasanton-based Safeway Inc. said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose a better-than-expected 42%, aided by its purchase of Vons Co. last year. It also declared a 2-for-1 stock split.

Net income rose to $214.9 million, or 85 cents a diluted share, from $151.6 million, or 63 cents, last year.

At a Glance: Telecommunications

MCI Communications Corp.’s fourth-quarter profit dropped 77% before charges, indicating that WorldCom Inc.’s pending $41.8-billion purchase of the long-distance company may hold more challenges than expected. MCI’s profit before charges fell to $71 million, or 10 cents a diluted share, from $303 million, or 44 cents, a year earlier as the company struggled to expand into new areas profitably. Results matched the estimates.

At a Glance: Technology

Western Digital Corp. reported a fiscal second-quarter profit before charges, beating forecasts, though it took a far larger charge than expected amid falling prices for its disk drives.

The company reported a profit before charges of $2.4 million, or 3 cents a diluted share, compared with earnings of $64.2 million, or 68 cents, in the year-earlier period.

* Calabasas-based Xylan Corp.’s fourth-quarter earnings rose a better-than-expected 32% to $6.6 million, or 14 cents a diluted share, from $5 million, or 11 cents, a year ago.

* Pairgain Technology Inc. reported fourth-quarter net income of $12.7 million, or 17 cents per diluted share, compared with $12.9 million, or 17 cents, a year ago.

Also

Republic Industries Inc. reported a fourth-quarter profit, exceeding analysts’ estimates, as strong performance in waste-handling offset continued losses in its used-car business.

The company, led by billionaire Chairman Wayne Huizenga, said profit from continuing operations rose to $66.9 million, or 15 cents a diluted share, contrasted with a loss before charges of $11 million, or 3 cents, in the year-earlier period. After gains and charges, Republic’s net income in the recent quarter rose to $201.2 million; the year-earlier loss widened to $111.5 million.

* Bausch & Lomb Inc. said fourth-quarter profit quadrupled as eye-wear sales rebounded, and warned that currency rates and product introductions will hurt profit in the first half of 1998. The maker of contact lenses, eye-care products and Ray-Ban sunglasses said profit excluding charges was $30 million, or 54 cents a diluted share, compared with $7.4 million, or 14 cents, a year earlier.

* Baxter International Inc. said fourth-quarter profit rose 15%, in line with estimates, to $182 million, or 64 cents a diluted share, from $158 million, or 57 cents, in the year-earlier period.

* Calabasas-based Callaway Golf Co. reported fourth-quarter net income of $24.4 million, or 34 cents per diluted share, compared with $25.5 million, or 36 cents, a year ago.

* Dow Chemical Co. said its fourth-quarter profit fell 12.7%, a greater decline than analysts had expected, to $357 million, or $1.55 a diluted share, from $409 million, or $1.67, a year ago.

* Louisiana-Pacific Corp. reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss of $21.3 million, or 20 cents a diluted share, from $14.7 million, or 14 cents, a year ago.

* Stanley Works said fourth-quarter profit rose to $50 million, or 55 cents a diluted share, from $43 million, or 48 cents, a year earlier.

* CalEnergy Co. posted a fourth-quarter loss because of a charge to reflect the risk of Indonesia’s financial problems, reporting a net loss of $52.9 million, or 67 cents a share diluted, contrasted with net income of $21.1 million, or 33 cents, a year ago.