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18Apr2000 USA: Lilly Posts Solid First-Quarter Earnings, Fueled by Demand for Newer Drugs. By Beth M. Mantz. Pharmaceuticals concern Eli Lilly & Co. posted solid first-quarter earnings, fueled by higher demand for newer drugs, which offset slowing sales of antidepressant Prozac. Lilly, Indianapolis, said net income rose to $692.3 million, or 63 cents a share, adjusted for a one-time gain of $214 million from the sale of Kinetra, its venture with Electronic Data Systems Corp. Earnings were adjusted to include $91 million of sales that normally would have been realized during the first quarter but were realized during the fourth quarter of 1999 because of year-2000-related wholesaler buying patterns. A year ago, Lilly had earnings of 53 cents a share. Lilly said the current per-share earnings benefited from a stock-repurchase program. Adjusted for year-2000 wholesaler buying, Lilly sales increased 13% in the quarter to $2.54 billion from $2.26 billion. Lilly's operating earnings exceeded the 61-cent consensus estimate by First Call/Thomson Financial. While analysts weren't surprised by Lilly's performance, many were relieved to see even the 1% increase from $589.9 million a year ago. "The fact that Prozac was up 1% year-over-year [indicates] the majority of this market-share erosion is behind us," said Leonard Yaffe, an analyst at Banc of America Securities LLC. "To us, Prozac is the most significant product today. But going forward, Lilly's other drugs are behind the growth." Sales of osteoporosis drug Evista soared 84% to $100.5 million from $54.6 million. In September, the Food and Drug Administration approved a further indication for the drug to treat the bone-thinning disease that often leads to hip, wrist and spine fractures in postmenopausal women. Sales of diabetes-care products were higher than analysts expected, with $392 million in sales, up 53% from $256.6 million a year earlier. These products included Humulin, Humalog, Actos and Iletin. After Warner-Lambert Co. voluntarily withdrew type II diabetes drug Rezulin during the first quarter, prescription data revealed increased market share and more prescriptions for Lilly's Actos. However, analysts anticipate these significant strides to be felt in the second quarter. With sales of its newer drugs approaching blockbuster status, PaineWebber Inc. analyst Jeff Chaffkin said he might increase his 2000 earnings estimates for Lilly by "a few cents." Currently, he estimates Lilly will earn $2.65 a share for the year. At 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, shares of Lilly were up 87.5 cents to $70. (Copyright (c) 2000, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.). Sources:WALL STREET JOURNAL 18/04/2000 © Copyright 2001 - 2006 Prozac Clinic, all rights reserved. This site is not associated with the manufacturers of Prozac.