Amgen Profit Falls 25%

(RTTNews) - Amgen Inc (AMGN) on Tuesday reported a 25 percent decline in first-quarter profit, hurt mostly by tax and other expenses that offset a seven percent growth in revenues, with results falling short of Wall Street estimates.

Going forward, the biotechnology giant reaffirmed its outlook for 2014. Shares of the company were down about 3 percent in after-hours trade on the Nasdaq, following the announcement.

Amgen, based in Thousand Oaks, California, reported quarterly net earnings of $1.07 billion or $1.40 per share, compared with $1.43 billion or $1.88 per share last year.

Results for the quarter included tax adjustments of $365 million, compared with $64 million last year. Amgen said the prior year benefited from the resolution of federal audit for certain tax years.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $1.44 billion or $1.87 per share, compared with $1.5 billion or $1.96 per share a year ago. On average, 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $1.94 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the first quarter rose to $4.52 billion from $4.24 billion in the prior year. Twenty analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $4.76 billion for the quarter.

The recent quarter also include results of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, acquired in October.

Among products, Amgen's combined sales of white blood cell boosters Neulasta and Neupogen grew 3 percent from last year to $1.38 billion, while sales of arthritis drug Enbrel slid 5 percent to $988 million.

Sales of Xgeva, for the prevention of skeletal related events, and Prolia, for postmenopausal osteoporosis, jumped 30 percent to $475 million.

Sales of anemia drug Aranesp fell 2 percent to $460 million, while Epogen sales climbed 6 percent to $462 million. Kyprolis, for the treatment of myeloma, recorded sales of $68 million.

Amgen acquired cancer drug maker Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX) in October for about $10.4 billion, thus gaining Kyprolis, for which market analysts expect annual sales of $2 billion to $3 billion in a few years.

Meanwhile Amgen's research expense for the quarter climbed 17 percent from last year to $1.07 billion, due mainly to the addition of Onyx programs. For 2014, Amgen continues to expect adjusted earnings of $7.90 to $8.20 per share and revenues of $19.2 billion to $19.6 billion. Analysts currently expect earnings of $8.16 per share on revenues of $19.62 billion.

Amgen stock closed Tuesday at $119.30, up $2.28 or 1.95%, on a volume of 3.6 million shares. In after hours, the stock fell $3.30 or 2.77%, to trade at $116. In the past year, the stock has trended in the range of $94.15 - $128.96.