Mylan Posts Better-Than-Expected Profit

Mylan NV reported that its profit slipped in the latest quarter as expenses ticked up, though the pharmaceutical company's adjusted profit came in above analysts' projections.

Shares of Mylan rose 5.3% to $44.97 a share in premarket trading.

Heather Bresch, Mylan's chief executive, sought to quell concerns about pricing for its generics business.

"Despite much external focus and discussion of the pricing environment," Ms. Bresch said the company sees "nothing out of the ordinary to change our generic pricing assumptions of low- to mid-single digit erosion for the full year."

In February, the company said it had agreed to buy Swedish pharmaceutical company Meda AB for $7.2 billion in cash and stock, in a move to bolster its specialty generic and over-the-counter business. Mylan had attempted to buy Meda back in 2014 but was rebuffed. The deal came after Mylan in November lost its $26 billion hostile bid for Perrigo Co.

For the period ended March 31, Mylan reported a profit of $13.9 million, or three cents a share, down from $56.6 million, or 13 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding special items, such as amortization expenses related to acquisitions completed in 2015, per-share earnings were 76 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected 74 cents a share.

Revenue rose 17% to $2.19 billion. Analysts had forecast $2.23 billion in revenue. On a constant currency basis, revenue rose 19%, the company said.

Operating expenses climbed 19% to $801.4 million on higher spending on items such as research and development, where spending climbed 49% to $253.6 million.

About a year ago, Mylan bought part of Abbott Laboratories' generic-drugs business for $5.3 billion in a deal structured as a tax inversion, by which it shifted its headquarters to the Netherlands and lowered its tax rate.

The company Tuesday backed its full-year total revenue guidance of a range of $10.5 billion to $11.5 billion, and adjusted per-share earnings outlook range of $4.85 to $5.15.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 03, 2016 07:35 ET (11:35 GMT)

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