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To: richardred who wrote (679)	2/2/2006 4:09:21 PM
From: richardred	Respond to of 7254

Perrigo Posts Higher 2nd-Quarter Profit Thursday February 2, 2:26 pm ET Perrigo Second-Quarter Earnings Soar 60 Percent; Co. Gets OK to Sell Generic Version of Lozenge ALLEGAN, Mich. (AP) -- Perrigo Co., a maker of store-brand medicines and supplements, said Thursday that profit jumped 60 percent in its fiscal second quarter, boosted by the Agis Industries business it bought in March. Separately, the company received approval to sell a generic version of the stop-smoking nicotine lozenge that GlaxoSmithKline PLC sells under the Commit brand. Glaxo's product posted sales of $100 million in 2005, Perrigo said. For the three months ended Dec. 24, Perrigo's earnings rose to $25.4 million, or 27 cents per share, from $15.8 million, or 22 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue climbed 43 percent to $359.7 million from $251.7 million, reflecting the Agis acquisition. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected earnings of 21 cents per share on sales of $350.2 million. Still, Perrigo cautioned that it continues to face higher costs from its effort to reformulate cold and cough products to remove pseudoephedrine -- a major ingredient in many cold remedies that can be separated out to make the highly additive drug methamphetamine. "This conversion has proven to be more complex and difficult than anticipated," Chairman, President and Chief Executive David T. Gibbons said in a statement. "It is clear that we will not overcome the negative impact of the new product and pseudoephedrine issues to the extent anticipated." The company said year-end earnings will be higher than previously forecast -- 74 cents to 78 cents per share instead of 70 cents to 74 cents per share -- because of funds from its sale of a Canadian distribution company. This does not affect Perrigo's operating earnings, and the company said it still expects these results to range from 74 cents to 78 cents per share. Perrigo's operating earnings also exclude certain inventory expenses. Analysts peg year income at 77 cents per share, on average. Perrigo shares rose 37 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $16.36 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq. biz.yahoo.com