McKesson 4Q Profit Falls Following Write-down

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Drug distributor McKesson Corp. on Monday posted an 8 percent drop in fiscal fourth-quarter profit after the company wrote down the value of an investment and reported flat sales which missed Wall Street's expectations.

McKesson said its profit decreased to $281 million, or $1.01 per share, from $307 million, or $1.05 per share, in the year-earlier period. The latest quarter includes a charge of $59 million, or 22 cents per share, to write down the value of its investment in Parata Systems LLC and a tax-related gain of $22 million, or 8 cents per share.

Revenue was about flat at $26.22 billion, as sales in both its distribution services business and technology services business were essentially unchanged year-over-year.

For the quarter ended March 31, analysts had expected $1.15 per share in profit and $27.3 billion in revenue, according to a Thomson Reuters survey.

In fiscal 2009, McKesson's profit fell 17 percent to $823 million, or $2.95 per share, including a hefty litigation charge, from $990 million, or $3.32 per share. Revenue grew 5 percent to $106.63 billion from $101.70 billion.