Valeant reports second-quarter results

Valeant Pharmaceuticals has announced its results for the second quarter of its 2007 financial year, with the firm recording revenues of $231 million (113 million pounds), up from $230.4 million in the same quarter last year.

This increase was driven by a rise in product sales, which grew from $208.8 million in the second quarter of 2006 to $212.2 million in the same period this year.

Income from continuing operations during the quarter was $16.8 million, equivalent to $0.18 per diluted share, compared to a loss of $42.3 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, in the comparable quarter of 2006.

Timothy C Tyson, president and chief executive officer of Valeant, said: “We continue to believe that we will achieve our goal of industry-average growth for the full year.

“We remained disciplined in our spending, controlling overhead costs while investing in promoted products and advancing our development pipeline.”

He added that growth in promoted product sales in North America and Europe, the Middle East and Africa drove product growth, while the firm resolved its wholesale distribution in Mexico during the quarter.

In June 2007, Valeant announced that its board of directors had formally approved plans to launch a share repurchase programme to re-buy up to $200 million of its common stock over two years.