McKesson says profit up 17% in its 4th quarter

McKesson Corp.’s profit climbed 17% in its fiscal fourth quarter to top analysts’ expectations, capping a year of robust growth at the nation’s largest distributor of prescription drugs.

The San Francisco-based company said it earned $257 million, or 85 cents a share, for the three months ended in March. That compared with net income of $220 million, or 70 cents, a year earlier. Revenue totaled $24.2 billion, a 2% increase.

The earnings beat the average estimate of 78 cents a share among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

It marked the third consecutive quarter that McKesson has surpassed the earnings target set by analysts.

The prosperous stretch has helped lift McKesson’s stock price by 18% this year.

The company’s shares fell 23 cents Monday to $59.77 before McKesson released its results.

For the fiscal year ending March 2008, McKesson forecast that its earnings per share would range from $3.15 to $3.30, an 8% to 14% increase from the year before, excluding discontinued operations and legal costs.

The average analyst estimate for the upcoming year had been $3.21 a share, according to Thomson Financial.

McKesson’s profit has been rising largely because of an increased supply of generic drugs and rising demand for its technology products as more hospitals and doctors try to automate their operations.