COR Therapeutics warns of Q3 profit shortfall
(UPDATE: adds details, company comments, analyst comments, stock price, byline, previous SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO)
By Deena Beasley
LOS ANGELES, Oct 3 (Reuters) - COR Therapeutics Inc. (NasdaqNM:CORR - news), a developer of treatments for heart disease, warned on Wednesday that its third-quarter and full-year 2001 profits will fall short due to weak September sales of its flagship blood-clot fighter Integrilin, lower interest income and a possible delay in a milestone payment.
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The South San Francisco, California-based company said third-quarter sales of the injectable drug to U.S. wholesalers were about $53 million, while worldwide sales were near $59 million. Peter Roddy, COR's chief financial officer, told Reuters sales had been expected to come in near second-quarter totals of $61.3 million in the U.S. and $66.9 million worldwide.
COR now expects to earn 1 cent per share in the third quarter, well below Wall Street's consensus estimate of 8 cents, as compiled by Thomson Financial/First Call.
The company's shares, which fell $1.63 to close at $20.60 on Nasdaq before the earnings warning, were down further at $18.50 in the after-hours market on Instinet.
``September is usually a big month for us -- both patients and physicians are getting back from vacation. We believe the tragedy of Sept. 11 had an effect on sales,'' Roddy said.
He said U.S. hospital-based sales of Integrilin for July and August, according to third-party data, were in line with expectations and COR is in the process of determining exactly why drug sales fell off in September.
``I think this is a one-time event. There are two main uses for the drug -- unstable angina, which is 24/7, and angioplasty, which is often an elective procedure,'' said Mark Monane, an analyst at Needham & Co.
FULL-YEAR SALES ESTIMATE CUT TO $240-$250 MLN
He noted that there has been no change in medical guidelines for use of Integrilin, which was launched in 1998.
For the full year, COR said it expects worldwide sales of Integrilin to total $240 million to $250 million, down from earlier estimates of $245 million to 260 million, a drop which Roddy attributed to the sales lost in September.
COR also lowered its guidance for 2001 earnings per share to between 11 cents and 13 cents, excluding a possible $10 million milestone payment related to European regulatory approval in angioplasty. The current First Call estimate for the company's full-year earnings is 36 cents.
Roddy said the company broke out the $10 million milestone from its anticipated fourth-quarter earnings, because travel disruptions in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks have called into question whether European regulators will make a decision on the new indication before the end of the year.
He also said the company has revised downward expected interest income following the recent string of U.S. interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve Board. |
