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Biotech / Medical : ICN Pharmaceuticals -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Barnum who wrote (802)	4/1/1998 9:55:00 AM
From: Paul Lee	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1029

It might get ugly today. CN Pharmaceuticals Announces Devaluation in Yugoslavia NEW YORK, April 1 /PRNewswire/ -- ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: ICN) announced today that the action on the part of the Yugoslavian government to devalue their currency, the dinar, by 82% will result in a non-cash charge to second quarter earnings that may have a material effect on earnings. Milan Panic, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. said, "Our experience in Yugoslavia has brought ICN considerable expertise in dealing with the risk of economic change. ICN Yugoslavia has been operating profitably for the last five years. During 1997 we had decreased our monetary exposure by $74 million. The Company will take actions to reduce the impact of the devaluation, which will include the immediate application for price increases." The Yugoslavian government devalued the dinar from a rate of 6.0 dinar per US$1 to 10.92 dinar per US$1. The devaluation will result in a foreign exchange loss in the second quarter that will be based on the net monetary asset exposure as of April 1, 1998. The Company is currently determining the amount of the loss; however, based on the net monetary asset exposure of approximately $60 million as of December 31, 1997, an 82% devaluation would result in a foreign exchange loss of approximately $27 million. The last devaluation of the dinar occurred in November 1995. The Company had disclosed the possibility of a potential devaluation in past public filings, however, ICN believes that a devaluation so early in the year was not in line with indicated economic policy. The Company noted that ICN Yugoslavia sales represent approximately 30% of its total revenues and the rest of its business, including those in Russia, Eastern and Central Europe, continue to operate profitably.