Eli Lilly 1Q profit tumbles on charges

Pharmaceuticals maker Eli Lilly and Co. said Monday its first-quarter earnings slid 39 percent, hurt by charges related to restructuring and an acquisition. But the results exceeded Wall Street forecasts, and the company boosted its full-year financial targets.

Lilly, whose prescription drugs include Cialis, Cymbalta and Zyprexa, said net income totaled $508.7 million, or 47 cents per share in the first three months of 2007. That was down from $834.8 million, or 77 cents per share, in same period last year.

The latest quarter included a charge of 8 cents per share for costs from restructuring some manufacturing operations, and an expense of 29 cents per share related to Lilly's $2.3 billion purchase of ICOS Corp., which closed in January.

Excluding those items, earnings came in at $913.3 million, or 84 cents per share. That beat estimates on Wall Street, where analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for 79 cents per share.

Sales rose 14 percent to $4.23 billion from $3.71 billion a year ago, exceeding the Street's estimate of $4.12 billion. Sales of Zyprexa, a schizophrenia drug, climbed 10 percent to $1.11 billion. Sales of Cymbalta, which treats depression, rose 89 percent to $441.8 million.

Lilly shares rose 80 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $57.68 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.