Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.’s share price up, posts better-than-expected third-quarter earnings

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. posted third-quarter earnings, which were better than initially expected and also upgraded its full-year earnings projection.

Valeant said in its statement that the results during the quarter reflected the “true strength” of its business. The companys Chief Executive Officer, J. Michael Pearson, said in a news release today, cited by the Wall Street Journal: “Valeant delivered exceptional results for the third quarter and exceeded our expectations on all key metrics. Mr. Pearson added: “true strength of our business and operating model can be clearly seen by our financial results”.

According to the statement, Valeants cash earnings over the period amounted to $2.11 per share. This performance surpassed the initial analysts forecasts of $1.99. Valeant revised up its previous projection of $7.90 to $8.10 and said it expects annual cash earnings in the range of $8.22 to $8.32 per share. The drug maker also raised its adjusted profit forecast for 2015 from $9.65 per share to $10 a share. The projection was higher than the median estimate by analysts, which pointed to $9.58 per share.

The company posted earnings at the amount of $275.4 million, or 81 cents a share for the most recent period. For the sake of comparison, last year it reported a loss of $973.2 million, or $2.92 a share. Excluding items, cash earnings increased to $2.11 per share from $1.43 per share. Revenue climbed 33% to just under $2.06 billion.

The company has been trying to consolidate its positions on the market, especially following the acquisition of Bausch & Lomb in 2013. Valeant intends to boost its takeover bid for Allergan in the eve of the shareholders meeting in December in order to expand its reach. Its current cash-and-stock offer for Allergan amounts to $171.86 per share.

CRT Capital Group LLC analyst, Tim Chiang, commented on the companys performance in a telephone interview for Bloomberg: “It’s almost a game of, ‘We’re better,’ ‘No we’re better.” He said that Valeant “had very strong growth in almost every part of their business from dermatology, eye care, all the way through to even their dental business”.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. added 3.60% to trade at CA$140.32 per share by 14:35 GMT, marking a one-year increase of 20.71%. The company is valued at CA$45.26 billion.