Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (SLXP) Tops Q1 EPS by 14c

Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NASDAQ: SLXP) reported Q1 EPS of $1.05, $0.14 better than the analyst estimate of $0.91. Revenue for the quarter came in at $384 million versus the consensus estimate of $372.91 million.

Carolyn Logan, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We continued to experience positive momentum in the business in the first quarter of 2014 demonstrated by strong prescription growth for XIFAXAN® 550, APRISO® and UCERIS®, with all three key products reaching new record-highs for total monthly prescriptions in March. As we transitioned Santarus into our distribution model, sales of XIFAXAN 550 and APRISO were below prescription demand for the first quarter of 2014 as wholesalers and drug chains focused on securing Santarus’ products to establish adequate inventories, resulting in very strong revenue growth in Santarus’ products. We expect XIFAXAN 550 sales to exceed prescription demand or be in line with prescription demand in the second quarter of 2014 as wholesalers bring XIFAXAN 550 inventories back to more typical levels, and shipments for all of the Company’s products to track in line with prescription growth by the second half of the year.”

Ms. Logan continued, “Since the successful integration of our respective sales forces, we believe we have established good traction with our expanded sales efforts as evidenced by the growth in new prescribers, among other indicators. The new, fully trained digestive disease specialty sales force has allowed us to increase our reach to approximately 20,000 additional healthcare providers treating patients for the reduction in risk of overt hepatic encephalopathy recurrence. Similarly, our expanded gastroenterology specialty sales force has enabled us to broaden the promotion of UCERIS to more gastroenterologists and we have seen the prescriber base for UCERIS grow by 17% since the end of 2013.”

Ms. Logan concluded, “Looking ahead, we continue to be optimistic about the future trajectory for the business driven by organic growth and potential product expansions. Over the coming months we anticipate several important milestones, which have the ability to significantly grow our base business. Additionally, the acquisition and commercialization of new products, such as our recent licensing agreement for our new investigational bowel prep provide additional expansion opportunities in large and attractive markets.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (SLXP) click here.

You May Also Be Interested In

• Tesla plans 'flying' Roadster stunt at SpaceX Texas site as early as August
• Star Equity Holdings (STRR) Misses Q2 EPS by 8c
• JD.com (JD) Reiterated at Buy by Benchmark Amid Earnings Recovery