Schering-Plough, Merck Beat Forecasts on Increased Sales

Stellar sales of their shared cholesterol drugs spurred Schering-Plough Corp. and Merck & Co. to better-than-expected quarterly results Thursday, but investors were disappointed by Eli Lilly & Co. as sales of its biggest product continued to slide.

Schering-Plough was the star of the day as its first-quarter earnings more than tripled on increased sales of virtually all of its prescription medicines.

Demand was especially strong for the cholesterol drugs Vytorin and Zetia, which the company co-markets as part of a joint venture with Merck.

Kenilworth, N.J.-based Schering-Plough posted first-quarter net profit of $350 million, or 24 cents a share, compared with $105 million, or 7 cents, a year earlier. Excluding gains from a change in accounting, the company earned 22 cents a share, easily exceeding Wall Street expectations for 14 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Global sales of arthritis treatment Remicade jumped 26% to $278 million in the quarter, while sales of inhaled allergy drug Nasonex rose 25% to $229 million amid a new marketing push.

Merck’s profit rose 11% as the success of the joint venture drugs were augmented by U.S. demand for its Zocor cholesterol medicine, which loses patent protection in June, and a 9% rise in sales of its asthma drug Singulair.

Total sales from the joint venture jumped 54% to $778 million, putting Vytorin and Zetia on track for combined annual sales of more than $3 billion.

Merck reported first-quarter net profit of $1.52 billion, or 69 cents a share, compared with $1.37 billion, or 62 cents, a year earlier.

Excluding restructuring charges and other special items, Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck earned 78 cents a share. Analysts’ average forecast was 73 cents, according to Reuters Estimates, including the effect of about 3 cents a share for expensing stock options.

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co. posted a 13% jump in quarterly earnings, but shares slipped on disappointing results in several product lines including its schizophrenia drug Zyprexa.

Sales of Zyprexa, its most profitable drug, fell 3% amid fears that the drug can cause weight gain that can lead to diabetes. Revenue fell short of analyst estimates.

Net profit at Lilly rose to $834.8 million, or 77 cents a share, compared with a profit of $736.6 million, or 68 cents, a year earlier. Analysts on average expected 75 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates, which includes the effect of stock option expenses.

Sales in the period rose 6% to $3.72 billion, as antidepressant and diabetic pain drug Cymbalta more than doubled in revenue to $233.3 million. That fell shy of average analyst views of $3.8 billion. Zyprexa sales fell 3% to $1 billion.

Schering-Plough shares rose 51 cents to $19.40 and Merck shares were up 60 cents to $35, while Lilly shares fell $1.03 to $53.62.