Hungary's Egis Gives Profit Warning

Hungarian pharmaceutical company Egis Nyrt. (EGIS.BU) warned investors Thursday that its earning figures will come in worse than expected by analysts.

Over the fourth quarter of the financial year 2009, Egis generated a net profit of 406 million forint ($2.17 million), operating profit of HUF997 million and sales revenue of HUF24.04 billion.

The company's figures compare to a consensus forecast of consolidated net profits of HUF3.31 billion, operating profits of HUF3.42 billion and net revenues of HUF28.89 billion.

The consensus was the median of seven analysts' forecasts polled by Hungarian business news agency portfolio.hu.

"The difference between results and analysts' anticipations are primarily caused by lower export sales compared to previous quarters, as well as by the negative fourth-quarter financial profit," Egis said in a stock exchange filing. It added that the lower-than-expected financial profit is due to the year-end accounting of loss generated by subsidiaries that don't operate at a full capacity yet.

The company will disclose its detailed earnings report for the fourth quarter and the full fiscal year on Nov. 11.