Lannett Q2 Profit Up Nearly Six-fold, Results Beat View; Lifts Revenue Outlook

(RTTNews) - Lannett Co., Inc. (LCI), a maker of generic pharmaceutical products, on Thursday reported a nearly six-fold increase in profit for the second quarter from last year. The results reflect strong revenue growth and higher margins.

Both revenue and earnings per share beat analysts' expectations. Looking ahead, the company raised its revenue outlook for fiscal 2014. shares of the company gained almost 14 percent in extended trades.

Arthur Bedrosian, president and chief executive officer of Lannett said, "For the fiscal 2014 second quarter, we recorded the highest net sales, gross margin and net income in our company's history. Our excellent financial performance was driven by price increases, strong sales of existing products and favorable product mix."

For the second quarter, net income attributable to Lannett was $16.57 million or $0.46 per share, up from $2.88 million or $0.10 per share in the year-ago period. On average, five analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.39 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based company's net sales for the quarter surged 84 percent to $67.33 million from $36.56 million in the same period last year, and beat analysts' consensus revenue estimate of $62.21 million. Gross margin expanded to 61 percent from 37 percent in the prior-year period.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2014, Lannett raised its outlook for net sales to a range of $275 million to $285 million, from the prior range of $245 million to $255 million. Analysts currently expect revenues of $248.64 million for the year.

The company noted that its guidance for fiscal 2014 does not include the impact of the JSP contract extension, which resulted in the non-recurring pre-tax charge of $20.1 million recorded in the first quarter of fiscal 2014.

LCI closed Thursday's regular trading session at $32.03, down $0.50 or 1.54 percent on a volume of 521,883 shares. However, in after-hours, the stock gained $4.47 or 13.96 percent to $36.50.