ICN’s Third-Quarter Profits Outstrip Analysts’ Expectations

ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. posted a third-quarter profit of $31.8 million, or 39 cents a share, for the third quarter on record sales. The earnings exceeded analysts’ estimates of 36 cents a share, according to a First Call Corp. survey.

A year ago, the company posted a loss of $65.2 million, or 89 cents a share, as it struggled with economic turmoil in Russia and political upheavals in Yugoslavia.

Revenue rose 11.5% to $181.7 million. The Costa Mesa-based pharmaceuticals manufacturer attributed the gain to a significant increase in royalties from sales of Ribavirin, a hepatitis C drug marketed in combination with Intron A by Schering-Plough Corp. under the name Rebetron.

ICN said its Rebetron royalties totaled $33 million in the third quarter, more than four times higher than a year ago and an increase of 27% from the second quarter.

The company wrote off its ICN Yugoslavia operations in the fourth quarter last year.

The stock rose $1.88 a share, or 7.9%, to $25.69, on the New York Stock Exchange.