Allergan Inc. posted a 23 percent rise in second quarter earning, defeating Wall Street expectations as lower allocations for research and development helped offset declining sales from its medical devices and the anti-wrinkle drug Botox due to the recession.
The company shares went up by 2.3 percent earned $177 million compared to $144 million last year.

“We cannot remember a time when Allergan beat by this much, so we assume it was intended to send a strong message to the Street that it has plenty of flexibility in its discretionary spending,” said Corey Davis, a Natixis Bleichroeder analyst.

However, Davis cautioned that Allergan did not raise the top end of its 2009 profit outlook, which could lead to lower expected sales in the second half of the year.

According to Allergan, it now expects its full-year earnings at $2.71 to $2.75 per share, an increase compared to its prior forecast of $2.69 to $2.75.

Sales of Botox slipped by 3.2 percent to $337 million due to foreign exchange factors and the introduction of Dysport, a new anti-wrinkle drug that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Source: Reuters