ICN Posts Earnings Gains for 2 Units, Loss by Viratek

ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., which earlier this week reported a turn-around for its fiscal 1986 third quarter and nine months ended Aug. 31, Tuesday reported earnings gains for two of its subsidiaries, ICN Biomedicals Inc. and SPI Pharmaceuticals Inc., and a loss for a third unit, Viratek Inc.

ICN Biomedicals, bolstered by strong sales at its Micromedic Systems division, which manufactures diagnostic testing equipment, reported fiscal third-quarter net earnings of $996,000, up sharply from $46,000 a year earlier.

ICN Biomedicals, which went public on Sept. 25 with an initial offering that raised $3.2 million for its Costa Mesa-based parent, said revenues for the quarter increased 222% to $10.3 million from $3.2 million a year earlier.

For the first nine months, ICN Biomedicals’ net earnings climbed sharply to $3 million from $235,000 a year earlier. Nine-month revenues increased to $30.1 million from $10 million.

Dominic Liuzzi, an ICN spokesman, said the strong increase this year at the Biomedicals subsidiary was due to the performance of two divisions acquired over the last year. The company manufactures medical instruments and chemical compounds.

The second ICN subsidiary, SPI Pharmaceuticals, posted a more modest increase for the quarter just ended, with net earnings climbing 17% to $857,000 from $730,000 a year earlier.

Quarterly revenue for the company--the marketing arm of the ICN family--was $11.4 million, essentially flat compared with the $11.1 million that SPI reported for last year’s third quarter.

For the first nine months of its fiscal 1986, SPI’s net earnings increased 86% to $5.2 million from $2.8 million. Revenues increased 17% to $39.2 million from $33.6 million.

The only ICN subsidiary to report a loss during the fiscal 1986 third quarter was Viratek, which manufactures the anti-viral drug Virazole, also known as ribavirin.

Viratek, whose share price has risen dramatically this year on speculation that Virazole eventually will be approved for use against AIDS, reported a third-quarter loss of $545,000 compared with net earnings of $73,000 during the like period last year. The company, which has yet to demonstrate a continuing profitability, said the year-ago profit came largely from licensing fees that were not booked again this year. Revenues for the quarter rose 107% to $1.5 million from $759,000.

For the nine months, Viratek had net earnings of $931,000 compared with a loss of $1.4 million in 1985. Revenues during the period increased 260% to $5.6 million from $1.5 million a year earlier. Sales of Virazole contributed the bulk of the revenue and earnings, Liuzzi said.

As reported, the parent company, ICN Pharmaceuticals, posted third-quarter earnings of $3.7 million and nine-month earnings of $7.3 million.

Liuzzi said the strong showing came from Virazole sales and from increased performance at the ICN Biomedicals subsidiary, which has been successful in marketing a new blood-testing device.