Pfizer Profit Rises 21%; Merck Earnings Up 16%

Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest drug maker after its merger with Warner-Lambert Co. last month, said its second-quarter earnings jumped 21% on higher sales of medicines for high cholesterol, high blood pressure and depression.

No. 2 Merck & Co., quashing worries about patent expirations on several key drugs, posted a strong 16% increase in second-quarter profit and promised to beat Wall Street’s earnings forecast for the year.

Pfizer said its earnings rose to $1.44 billion, or 23 cents a share, excluding special items and costs related to the merger, a penny better than analysts forecast.

Revenue, which reflects combined sales of the merged companies, rose 8% to $7.04 billion.

Pfizer said sales were fueled by growth of U.S. medicines, enabling a 40% global jump in revenue to $1.26 billion for anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor and a 13% gain to $805 million for hypertension treatment Norvasc. Warner-Lambert developed Lipitor, which had 1999 global sales of $3.7 billion and is expected to near $5 billion this year.

But sales of Pfizer’s impotence drug Viagra dipped slightly to $304 million from $305 million a year ago, despite a 28% jump in the total number of U.S. prescriptions written for the medicine in the first half of the year.

Pfizer shares added $1.69 to $47.56 on the New York Stock Exchange before the earnings were announced, after regular trading ended.

Merck said its profit grew to $1.72 billion, or 73 cents a share, from $1.47 billion, in the quarter ended June 30, beating analysts’ forecasts by 4 cents, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. Sales rose 18% to $9.5 billion.

Merck attributed the strong performance to robust sales of its new arthritis drug Vioxx and its best-selling cholesterol pill Zocor.

Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck also said its full-year earnings would exceed the $2.76-to-$2.81-a-share estimates compiled by First Call/Thomson Financial. That would equate to 13% to 15% earnings growth.

Merck’s shares jumped $5.81, or 9%, to $69.56 on the NYSE. Earnings were reported early in the day.

With the expiration of patents on several key drugs, 2000 was supposed to mark the start of some trying times at Merck.

But the company is showing its new drugs, such as the arthritis pill Vioxx and the asthma drug Singulair, are going to make up for that lost revenue, analysts said.

Vioxx, introduced a year ago, had $475 million in sales in the second quarter, up from $370 million in the first quarter.

At a Glance

Other earnings, excluding one-time gains or charges unless noted, include:

OIL:

* Ashland Inc. said its fiscal third-quarter earnings jumped 54% to $129 million, or $1.83 a share, exceeding expectations of $1.69 a share, on a 21% rise in sales to $2.32 billion.

* Conoco Inc.’s second-quarter profit more than quadrupled to $460 million, or 73 cents a share, from $114 million, or 18 cents, a year earlier, as the oil company’s sales jumped 50% to $9.51 billion. The results beat forecasts of 70 cents. Conoco benefited from higher energy prices, as oil-producing nations cut output and power plants burned more natural gas.

OTHER INDUSTRIES:

* American Express Co. said Monday its second-quarter profit rose 15% to $740 million, or 54 cents a share, lifted by revenue from managing money for investors and increased consumer spending on its credit cards. The results beat analyst estimates by a penny. Net revenue rose 16% to $5.6 billion.

* Enron Corp., North America’s biggest buyer and seller of electricity and natural gas, said second-quarter earnings rose 30% to $289 million, or 34 cents a share, 2 cents better than forecasts, as revenue climbed 75% to $16.9 billion. Enron said its new broadband telecommunications business posted a loss of $8 million on revenue of $151 million. Enron has previously said it expects the business to become profitable in two to three years.