Lundbeck sees mediocre third quarter earnings

Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck has reported a drop in profits from 2004.

The company said that earnings for the third quarter had fallen to 543 million DKR (?49 million) from 663 million DKR (?60 million) the year before. Net profits slipped too, falling to 390 million DKR (?35 million) from 425 million DKR (?38 million).

Mediocre sales at the firm seemed partly to blame for the drop in profits. Sales of Lexapro, the second-most prescribed anti-depressant in the US, fell by nine per cent. Overall sales at the firm dropped by three per cent, after considering exchange rate fluctuations.

The company said that its Cipralex drug had held onto 9.2 per cent of the European anti-depressant market during the three months to October. It had recently gained regulatory approval in France, and now claims 3.9 per cent of the country’s anti-depressant market.

Just under three quarters of Lundbeck’s sales came from new pharmaceuticals, compared to 55 per cent in 2004. It is expecting 70 per cent of full year sales to be from new drugs.

It also said that it had bought back over 1.5 million of its own shares up to November 2005, and plans to complete its 6 billion DKR (?542 million) buy-back by 2007.

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