Watson Profit Boosted By Increase in Sales

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. said fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 23% to $40 million, or 37 cents a share, as sales rose for oral contraceptives and other products in its women’s health business.

The generic drug maker’s results were a penny better than the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call. Net income including one-time items was $46.3 million, or 43 cents a share, contrasted with a loss of $1.9 million, or 2 cents, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 15% to $293.9 million. Sales in the women’s health unit rose 60% to $67 million. Sales of Corona-based Watson’s generic version of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s anxiety drug BuSpar, which it started selling in April, were $12 million.

Watson shares fell 2 cents to $29.37 on the NYSE.