PLIVA deal weighs down on Barr’s profits

Barr Pharmaceuticals has announced its financial results for the quarter ended in September. It reported “strong earnings” while noting a pre-tax expense of $42.4 million (22.1 million pounds), associated to its foreign currency option it acquired in its acquisition of PLIVA.

Overall, the company reported revenues of $332 million (173.4 million pounds) for the quarter, resulting in net earnings of $52.8 million (27.6 million pounds). These results compare with higher earnings of $83.2 million (42.4 million pounds) on lower revenues of $310 million (161.8 million pounds) for the corresponding quarter last year.

Bruce L Downey, chairman and chief executive officer of Barr, said: “Contraceptive products, both generic and proprietary, continued to be the drivers of sales growth for our company during the quarter.”

He added that the acquisition of PLIVA had resulted in the creation of the third largest generic pharmaceutical company worldwide.

At its annual general meeting held this week, PLIVA elected the members of its supervisory board, including Frederick Jay Killion, senior vice president and general counsel at Barr Pharmaceuticals and Barr directors Jack Kay and George Peter Stephan.