Drugmaker Pfizer’s 4Q net plunges on charges, sales decline, but it beats analyst expectations

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Drugmaker Pfizer says fourth-quarter profit plunged 59 per cent because of restructuring and other charges and generic competition continuing to siphon off revenue from former blockbuster medicines.

Still, the world’s second-biggest drugmaker topped Wall Street’s modest expectations. Pfizer says net income was $2.57 billion, or 39 cents per share, down from $6.32 billion, or 85 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, the maker of Viagra, arthritis drug Xeljanz and pneumonia vaccine Prevnar says net income would have been $3.69 billion, or 56 cents per share. That topped analyst expectations of 52 cents per share.

Revenue totalled $ 13.56 billion, down 2 per cent. Analysts expected $13.36 billion.

The New York-based drugmaker forecast 2014 profit of $1.57 to $1.72 per share.