
AmerisourceBergen Net Falls
AmerisourceBergen
(ABC) - Get Report
shares rose Tuesday after the drug distributor reported a lower fourth-quarter profit, but still beat Wall Street's expectations.
The Valley Forge, Pa.-based company said net income fell 23% to $92 million, or 81 cents a share, vs. $119.5 million, or $1.04 a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 4% to $13.38 billion. Analysts expected the company to earn 77 cents a share, based on a Thomson First Call survey.
"We are disappointed with our performance for the quarter and the year, as a lack of price increases in the quarter and the loss of a major customer in the June quarter significantly reduced earnings," the company said.
The company failed to win renewal of a major Veterans Administration contract.
Looking ahead, the company said it expected operating revenue and income to be "essentially flat" for fiscal 2005, and repeated its recent forecast for full-year EPS of $4.20 to $4.30. The consensus forecast is $4.11 a share.
The company warned about its 2004 performance in October.
Shares rose $1.40, or 2.6%, to $56 in premarket trading.