AmerisourceBergen Q2 Adj. Profit Tops View, Revenues Miss; Lifts FY17 Forecast

(RTTNews) - AmerisourceBergen Corp. (ABC), a pharmaceutical sourcing and distribution services company, reported Thursday that its second-quarter net income declined 31.8 percent to $411.47 million from last year's $603.45 million. Earnings per share fell 30.6 percent to $1.86 from $2.68 in the previous year.

Adjusted earnings per share were $1.77, compared to $1.68 last year.

Revenue increased 4.1 percent to $37.15 billion from $35.70 billion a year ago.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.68 per share on revenues of $38.09 billion for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The revenue growth reflected a 4.0 percent increase in Pharmaceutical Distribution Services revenue and a 6.0 percent increase in revenue within Other.

Further, the company updated its outlook for fiscal year 2017. Adjusted earnings per share guidance has been raised to a range of $5.77 to $5.92 from the previous expectation of $5.72 to $5.92, reflecting growth of 3 percent to 5 percent versus last fiscal year.

Analysts expect earnings of $5.82 per share for the year.

The company now expects revenue growth in the range of 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent, compared to the previous assumption of 6.5 percent to 8 percent.

Adjusted operating income is now expected in the range of flat to up 2 percent, compared to the previous assumption of flat to up 4 percent.