Bergen Brunswig Profit Misses Forecasts

Bergen Brunswig Corp. reported quarterly results that missed expectations, but said for fiscal 2001 it expects revenue to rise about 10% and earnings to increase about 30%. The Orange-based distributor of drugs and medical products said earnings from continuing operations rose 38% in its fiscal fourth quarter to $16 million, or 12 cents a share, from $11.6 million, or 9 cents, a year ago. Analysts were anticipating profit of 14 cents. The results exclude a $505-million charge for impairment of goodwill from its April 1999 purchase of PharMerica Inc. The business, which Bergen bought for $1.1 billion, was hurt by a new payment plan for Medicare that cut funding to nursing homes. Bergen said it decided to write down the value of PharMerica after realizing that current gross profit margins of 35% wouldn’t return to historical levels of 40% and higher. “We’ve taken the hard steps necessary to put us back on track,” Robert Martini, who returned as chief executive of Bergen in November 1999, said on a conference call with analysts and investors. Shares of Bergen closed up 94 cents at $11.25 on the NYSE.