Valeant reports 4Q loss

LAVAL, Quebec (AP) - Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (VRX) on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter loss of $336.4 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

The Laval, Quebec-based company said it had a loss of 98 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were $2.50 per share.

The results did not meet Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.64 per share.

The drugmaker posted revenue of $2.79 billion in the period, topping Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.74 billion.

For the current quarter ending in April, Valeant expects its per-share earnings to range from $1.30 to $1.55. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had forecast adjusted earnings per share of $2.66.

The company said it expects revenue in the range of $2.3 billion to $2.4 billion for the fiscal first quarter. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected revenue of $2.85 billion.

Valeant expects full-year earnings in the range of $9.50 to $10.50 per share, with revenue ranging from $11 billion to $11.2 billion.

Valeant shares have declined 32 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has declined 64 percent in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on VRX at http://www.zacks.com/ap/VRX

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Keywords: Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Earnings Report