Acquisition, other charges lead Endo to 80% quarterly profit drop

Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. said today profit fell 80 percent in the fourth quarter because of a variety of one-time charges including purchasing a company.

The Chadds Ford maker of pain-relief medicines including Percocet said net income declined to $14.8 million, or 11 cents a share, in the quarter from $72.9 million, or 54 cents a share, a year earlier.

The specialty pharmaceutical company had $57.3 million in charges related to the October acquisition of RxKinetix Inc., the decision to discontinue promotion of the product DepoDur, and redeployment of Endo's hospital sales force.

Excluding stock option expenses and one-time charges, the company reported adjusted earnings per share of 42 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected per-share earnings of 37 cents on revenue of $244.8 million. Estimates excluded special charges.

Revenue rose 7.7 percent to $259.5 million from $240.8 million in the year-earlier quarter, helped by new products and $173.5 million in sales of Endo's Lidoderm pain patch.

For the full 2006 year, Endo said net income was $137.8 million down from $202.3 million. Revenue rose to $909.7 million from $820.2 million in 2005.

"With our substantial cash position and debt-free balance sheet, we are well positioned to pursue complementary acquisitions and licensing opportunities," said Peter A. Lankau, Endo president and chief executive officer.

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