Forest Laboratories, Inc. Reports Fiscal Year 2008 Fourth Quarter Reported EPS of $0.55 Including $0.35 Per Share Charge for Licensi...(se any shares. Twelve-month results ....),Health

Twelve-month results

Revenue for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008 increased 11% to $3,836,329,000 from $3,441,785,000 in the prior fiscal year. Lexapro sales increased 9% to $2,292,036,000 from $2,105,990,000 last fiscal year. Sales of Namenda increased 26% to $829,657,000 from $660,295,000 while the earnings contribution from the Benicar co-promotion increased 22% to $212,100,000 from $174,566,000.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased 10% to $1,154,845,000 from $1,046,336,000 while research and development spending decreased 29% to $670,973,000 from $941,003,000 in the prior fiscal year. Included in research and development spending for the year-ago period is a one-time charge of $476,000,000 for in-process R&D related to the acquisition of Cerexa, Inc.

Income tax expense was $242,464,000 reflecting a full-year tax rate of 20%. Reported net income for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008 increased 113% to $967,933,000 from net income of $454,103,000 reported in the prior fiscal year. Reported fully diluted earnings per share for the fiscal year totaled $3.06 per share as compared to reported earnings per share of $1.41 in fiscal 2007. Excluding the licensing payments made to Microbia and Novexel, adjusted net income for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008 would be $1,123,552,000, or $3.55 per fully diluted share. During fiscal year 2008 the Company repurchased approximately 8.9 million shares under its currently authorized repurchase program. There is authorization to repurchase an additional 15.8 million shares under this program which has no expiration date.

Fiscal 2009 Guidance

Regarding the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009, the Company expects that reported fully diluted earnings per share will be in a range of $3.10 to $3.20 per fully diluted share, including planned research and development milestone payments related to existing pipeline products but not including any licensing o
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