Merck & Co. swings to Q4 profit on lower charges

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. (AP) — Drugmaker Merck & Co. said Thursday that it swung to a fourth-quarter profit because of lower acquisition and restructuring charges and slightly higher sales.

The maker of allergy and asthma drug Singulair said net income was $1.51 billion, or 49 cents per share. A year earlier, Merck lost $531 million, or 17 cents a share.

Adjusted income was $2.98 billion, or 97 cents a share, up from $2.76 billion, or 88 cents a share. The earnings topped expectations for 95 cents per share, according to FactSet.

Revenue rose 1.6 percent $12.29 billion, short of expectations for $12.52 billion.

Merck forecast 2012 earnings per share of $3.75 to $3.85, excluding charges. Analysts expect $3.83. Including charges, Merck expects earnings per share of $2.04 to $2.30. The company said it expects revenue at or near 2011's total, whic was just over $48 billion.

Total pharmaceutical revenue was up 3 percent to $10.76 billion, led by double-digit sales growth for diabetes pills Januvia and Janumet, HIV drug Isentress and cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil. Sales rose 8 percent to $1.46 billion for Merck's top seller, Singulair, which gets generic competition in August.

Sales of veterinary medicines rose 6 percent to $868 million. Sales of consumer health products such as nonprescription Claritin fell 5 percent to $361 million.

"We are positioning Merck to perform well by advancing and growing our innovative pipeline, meeting the evolving needs of customers around the world and achieving a more efficient operating model," CEO Kenneth Frazier, who took over a year ago, said in a statement. "We are optimistic about our underlying business, our current momentum and the early success of our strategy."

For the full year, Merck posted net income of $6.27 billion, or $2.02 per share, up from $861 million, or 28 cents a share. Revenue totaled $48.05 billion, up 4 percent from $45.99 billion in 2010.