Eli Lilly reports better than expected results

Eli Lilly has reported a net income of $700 million for the fourth quarter, compared with a net loss of $2.4 million last year.

The 2004 fourth quarter loss was due to the tax expense on the repatriation of overseas earnings as well as restructuring charges, and for the 2005 as a whole net income was $1.98 billion, compared with 2004 net income of $1.81 billion.

Sales for 2005 increased six per cent, to $14.65 billion, and newer products contributed $2.58 billion to sales, accounting for 18 per cent of the figure.

Lilly chairman and chief executive officer Sidney Taurel said: “As expected, 2005 was a year of two halves, with sales and earnings accelerating in the second half.

“This stronger growth benefited from our nine newer products and productivity initiatives. Looking forward to 2006, our newer products should grow to about 24 per cent of revenues.

“We also expect to advance our robust pipeline, with three notable submissions anticipated during 2006: Arxxant for diabetic retinopathy, Cymbalta for generalised anxiety disorder, and Evista for breast cancer risk reduction in postmenopausal women.”

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