PharMerica Lifts 2014 Outlook

(RTTNews) - PharMerica Corp. (PMC) on Wednesday raised its financial outlook for fiscal 2014, citing positive momentum across its business as well as the completed acquisition of three institutional pharmacies in Texas.

The Louisville, Kentucky-based institutional pharmacy services company did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction, but said it expects the acquisition to generate about $60 million of annualized revenue and also be immediately accretive to its earnings in 2014.

The company noted that the acquisition will enable it to achieve its goal of completing acquisitions that generate at least $100 million of annualized sales in 2014.

Greg Weishar, Chief Executive Officer of PharMerica, said, "We are pleased to raise our guidance for 2014. This reflects the important progress we're making executing our business strategy, including successfully adding approximately $100 million in annual revenues through acquisitions. We remain focused on continuing this momentum, pursuing additional external growth opportunities, and delivering on our fiscal 2015 objectives."

Accordingly, for fiscal 2014, PharMerica now forecasts adjusted earnings in a range of $1.58 to $1.62 per share on revenues of $1.76 billion to $1.80 billion. Earlier, the company forecast adjusted earnings of $1.47 to $1.52 per share for the year on revenues of $1.73 billion to $1.78 billion.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $1.52 per share for the year on revenues of $1.77 billion. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

PharMerica noted that its previous guidance for 2014 did not include the effect of the 2014 acquisitions. The company said it will again target acquisitions that generate at least $100 million of annualized sales, in the aggregate, in 2015.

PharMerica also said it has commenced litigation against AmerisourceBergen Corp. (ABC), its wholesale supplier of pharmaceutical products. The litigation alleges breach of contract and seeks a declaratory judgment from the court to compel Amerisource to comply with its contractual obligations.

PMC closed Tuesday's trading at $24.68. In Wednesday's pre-market activity, the stock is up $0.60 or 2.43 percent to $25.28.