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Forest Laboratories Will Exceed Estimates for Fiscal 2003 Second Quarter Sales and Earnings
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2002 4:05 PM - PR Newswire
NEW YORK, Sep 30, 2002 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Forest Laboratories, Inc. (FRX) today announced that it expects its fiscal 2003 second quarter performance to exceed current consensus estimates. The Company projects that earnings per share will exceed the current First Call consensus estimate of $0.57 per share by at least 30%. In the second quarter of last fiscal year Forest earned $0.43 per share.
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The Company indicated that the primary reason for the better than anticipated performance in the quarter is strong net sales volume which will be approximately $530 million. Sales during the quarter were primarily driven by the Company's antidepressant franchise. The Company projects that sales of its antidepressant Celexa(TM) should approximate $388 million in the quarter. Sales of its antidepressant Lexapro(TM), introduced in September, should approximate $22 million in the quarter which includes initial wholesaler stocking of the product. The Company is not aware of any changes in inventory levels for its products at pharmaceutical wholesalers or distributors.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the quarter will be approximately $180 million as compared to $155 million in the Company's first quarter. SG&A expenses in the second quarter reflect the early investment associated with the launch of Lexapro, however, given the product's launch late in the quarter the full impact of Lexapro launch expenses will not be realized until the Company's quarter ending December 31, 2002.
Howard Solomon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Forest Laboratories, commented: "The strong performance of our business this quarter has resulted in financial performance above consensus expectations. Our antidepressant franchise continues to gain share in a large and growing market and, although early in the launch cycle, we have been encouraged by the performance of Lexapro. We will continue to assess factors associated with our business for the remainder of the fiscal year and be in a position to offer financial guidance for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2003 in connection with our second quarter earnings release."
Forest plans to issue its second quarter fiscal 2003 earnings on October 15, 2002 and will hold an investor conference call to discuss the results.
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