NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. traded higher Monday after the Canadian drugmaker reported a larger fourth-quarter profit and greater sales than Wall Street had expected.
Valeant said it earned $55.9 million, or 18 cents per share, in the final quarter of the year. Excluding costs related to restructuring and a series of acquisitions of other companies, Valeant said it earned 94 cents per share. Valeant combined with competitor Biovail in the fourth quarter of 2010, and it took a loss of $31.1 million, or 10 cents per share. Its revenue jumped 34 percent, to $688.5 million from $514.6 million.
Analysts expected the company to report a profit of 85 cents per share and $666.7 million in revenue, according to FactSet.
Shares of Valeant rose $2.32, or 4.8 percent, to $50.24 in afternoon trading.
During the fourth quarter, Valeant paid $425 million to buy Dermik, which was the dermatology division of French drugmaker Sanofi, and it paid $345 million for Ortho Dermatologics, formerly a division of Johnson & Johnson. It also bought Afexa Life Sciences and iNova.
Valeant said its revenue improved because of acquisitions and better sales of key dermatology products.
The Mississauga, Ontario, company reported a profit of $159.6 million, or 49 cents per share, for the full year. In 2010 Valeant lost $208.2 million, or $1.06 per share. Revenue more than doubled to $2.46 billion from $1.18 billion.
Valeant maintained its 2012 profit forecast of $3.95 to $4.20 per share excluding one-time items. Analysts expect it to earn $4.08 per share on average.
