Schering-Plough Posts Loss

Schering-Plough(SGP Quote) swung to an $181 million fourth-quarter loss on $229 million in charges and an 18% slide in sales compared with last year, and reiterated that 2004 will be a "year of repair and cleanup."

The fourth-quarter loss came out to 12 cents a share and the charge 13 cents a share, leaving income of 1 cent a share before the item. Sales fell to $1.95 billion from $2.37 billion last year, when the company earned $313 million, or 21 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had been forecasting earnings of 4 cents a share on sales of $2.03 billion in the latest quarter.

The special charges in the latest fourth quarter comprised employee termination costs of about $179 million and asset writedowns of $50 million. ...