United Therapeutics Corp.(NASDAQ:UTHR) unveiled a mixed set of results, with net income and profit falling below market expectations but its sales in the fourth quarter soundly beating market expectations.
In a statement, the biotechnology company said in the quarter, profit dipped to US$19mln or 43 US cents a share, from the US$110.3mln or US$2.43 a share, recorded a year ago.
Higher sales costs and R&D to blame
Excluding items, United Therapeutics reported an adjusted profit of US$3.89 a share for the quarter, down from the $4.06 a share year-on-year and below market expectations for an adjusted profit of US$4.50 a share.
Sales however rose to US$464.7mln from US$409mln in the year ago period and beating analysts’ consensus of US$420.7mln.
United Therapeutics said the poor costs of product sales, which more than doubled in the quarter to US$46.7mln, was due to an increase in royalty fees for its Adcirca drug.
That was not the only factor – research and development expenses also more than doubled to US$91.5mln, due to the increased pipeline of programs to treat heart and lung disease and cancer, and to develop organ manufacturing technologies.