McKesson profit up on strong sales

McKesson Corp.’s fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 19% because of strong sales in its drug distribution and technology units.

The San Francisco-based company said Monday that it earned $307 million, or $1.05 a share, compared with $257 million, or 85 cents, a year earlier.

Quarterly revenue rose 9% to $26.23 billion.

Excluding special costs related to litigation, the nation’s largest prescription drug distributor earned $1.04 a share in the quarter ended March 31.

On that basis, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected earnings of $1 a share.

For the full year, the company earned $990 million, or $3.32 a share, on revenue of $101.7 billion, also up 9% from a year ago.

McKesson shares closed at $54.09, down 21 cents, or less than 1%. After the results were announced, shares rose $2.31, or 4.3%, to $56.40 in extended trading.