Schering Profit Falls; Forecast Retracted

Schering-Plough Corp., the maker of Claritin allergy pills, retracted its estimate for profit this year and said first-quarter earnings tumbled 71% as competition from generic drugs hurt sales.

Net income fell to $173 million, or 12 cents a share, from $600 million, or 41 cents, in the first quarter of last year. Sales decreased 19% to $2.07 billion, the company said.

Shares of Kenilworth, N.J.-based Schering rose 41 cents to $18.71 on the New York Stock Exchange.

From Bloomberg News