AmerisourceBergen 3Q profit rises 37 percent

VALLEY FORGE, Pa.

AmerisourceBergen Corp. said Tuesday its net income surged 37 percent in the fiscal third quarter as the drug distributor sold greater amounts of generic drugs to its largest customers.

The results beat Wall Street estimates, and the company raised its earnings and sales forecasts for the full year.

Its shares rose 75 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $31.25 in pre-opening trading.

The company said its net income rose to grew to $163.2 million, or 57 cents per share, for the April-June period from $118.8 million, or 40 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding a one-time benefit, AmerisourceBergen said it earned 52 cents per share. That was 3 cents a share more than analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected.

Revenue rose 7 percent to $19.6 billion from $18.39 billion. Analysts expected lower revenue of $19.34 billion.

Revenue for the AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp. business, which provides drugs, staffing, and other services to health care providers and retail pharmacies, rose 8 percent. It said the strongest growth came from its biggest customers. Revenue for the company's specialty drug business grew 3 percent.

AmerisourceBergen raised its profit and sales estimates for the year ending Sept. 30. The company now expects a profit of $2.16 to $2.20 per share and said its sales will rose 8 to 9 percent, which suggests a total of $77.5 billion to $78.22 billion.

Previously, the company expected to earn $2.01 to $2.10 per share, with revenue rising 7 to 8 percent.

Analysts expected earnings of $2.12 per share on $77.46 billion in revenue.

The forecast includes net income of 44 cents to 48 cents per share in the fourth quarter. Analysts are looking for 48 cents per share.