Sales & Earnings In Brief
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Schering-Plough: Approval of OTC Claritin expected to fully deplete trade inventories of Rx version by end of 2002, leading to "negative impact on pretax profits" of approximately $250 mil., company says April 18. Negative financial effect may be partially offset by trade inventory build-up of OTC loratadine, Rx Clarinex, firm says. Worldwide Claritin sales declined 8% to $659 mil. in Q1 due, in part, to conversion of patients to Clarinex. Sun care sales rose 7.9% to $82 mil., while foot care sales were flat at $76 mil. OTC revenue declined 24% to $41 mil. due to "manufacturing issues." Consolidated Q1 sales totaled $2.56 bil., up 10.8%, and net income rose 6.4% to $600 mil...