Mylan considers options amid skid

Profits slide while EpiPen sales dip

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Mylan saw profits tumble in the second quarter on revenue that skidded 5 percent as the local drug giant cut production at its flagship manufacturing plant in Morgantown, W.Va., and announced its board was exploring strategic alternatives because it believes its shares are undervalued.

Net income was $37.5 million, or 7 cents per share, down 87 percent from $297 million, or 55 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

Excluding special items, adjusted earnings fell 3 percent to $1.07 per share from $1.10 per share, well below the consensus estimate on Wall Street of $1.22 per share.

Revenue was $2.81 billion, down from $2.96 billion, which reflects a 22 percent decline in sales in North America where the company has been hurt by lower sales volume, including declining sales of the EpiPen emergency allergy shot.

U.S. sales also were knocked back by a previously announced restructuring at the Morgantown plant, where the company has laid off workers, cut production levels and discontinued a number of products “aimed at reducing complexity at the facility,” Mylan said.

The restructuring came on the heels of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspection that found a number of problems at the plant.

“The fundamentals of Mylan’s global business remain strong,” CEO Heather Bresch said in a statement releasing the second-quarter results.

The company slashed its 2018 per-share earnings guidance to a range of $4.55 to $4.90, down from $5.20 to $5.60. Revenue guidance also was lowered to a