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RPT-UPDATE 2-Mylan posts bigger loss after charges; shares fall

Fri May 9, 2008 7:36pm IST
 
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NEW YORK, May 8 (Reuters) - Drugmaker Mylan Inc (MYL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday reported a wider first-quarter loss due to lower U.S. sales of generic medicines and special charges, although overall revenue more than doubled after a recent acquisition.

Mylan, whose shares fell 2.5 percent in after-hours trading, reported a quarterly loss of $444 million, or $1.46 per share. That compared with a loss of $71 million, or 31 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.

Excluding special items, Mylan earned 9 cents per share. Analysts on average expected 8 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

The company reported revenue of $1.07 billion, a bit shy of the Reuters Estimates expectation of $1.14 billion. Revenue included $630 million in sales of generic drugs recently acquired from German drugmaker Merck KGaA (MRCG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research). Mylan garnered revenue of $487 million in the 2007 period.

Sales of generics in North America fell 3.8 percent to $392 million in the quarter because of unfavorable pricing and competition with other generics, including forms of the overactive bladder drug oxybutynin and fentanyl patch to treat pain.

The Pittsburgh drugmaker bought Merck's generic business in October for $6.7 billion in cash, making Mylan the world's third-largest generics company.

In another effort toward global expansion, Mylan earlier last year bought a controlling interest in India-based Matrix Laboratories Ltd (MAXL.BO: Quote, Profile, Research). (Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, Toni Reinhold)

 
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