Salix Pharma Slips To Q3 Loss, Cuts 2014 View; Names Timothy Creech Acting CFO

(RTTNews) - Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (SLXP) reported a third-quarter net loss of $88.60 million or $1.39 per share, compared to net income of $47.33 million or $0.71 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Results for the latest quarter include transaction costs of $45.5 million related to the acquisition of Santarus and the potential merger with Cosmo Technologies Ltd., which was terminated on October 2, 2014.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the latest quarter was $122.2 million or $1.53 per share. On average, 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.55 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net product revenues for the quarter increased 49 percent to $354.72 million from $238.18 million in the same quarter last year. Analysts expected revenue of $392.36 million for the quarter.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Salix expects adjusted net income of about $92.0 million or $1.16 per share, on projected total net product revenue of about $325.0 million. Analysts expect the company to report fourth-quarter earnings of $1.95 per share on revenue of $436.03 million.

For fiscal 2014, Salix slashed adjusted earnings guidance to about $5.20 per share from the prior forecast of about $6.16 per share. The company also now expects total net product revenue of about $1.4 billion, down from the previous projection of about $1.6 billion. Street is currently looking for full-year 2014 earnings of $6.17 per share on revenue of $1.59 billion.

Separately, Salix appointed Timothy Creech as acting chief financial officer of the Company, effective immediately, to succeed Adam Derbyshire, who resigned from the position.