Valeant Posts Wider Loss For Fourth Quarter As Revenue Dips

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. shares jumped, then reversed their gains, in premarket trade Tuesday, after the company reported a fourth-quarter loss and decline in revenues, but still beat Wall Street estimates. Valeant, which was immersed in an accounting and drug pricing scandal last year, said it had a net loss of $512 million, or $1.47 a share, in the quarter, after a loss of $385 million, or $1.12 a share, in the year-earlier period. Excluding special items, the company had adjusted EPS of $1.26, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $1.20. Revenue fell to $2.4 billion from $2.7 billion, but were also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $2.3 billion. Joseph Papa, the CEO who was brought in to turn the company around, said it had improved its position in 2016. "We paid all 2017 amortizations and reduced debt by $519 million in the fourth quarter," Papa said in a statement. "We agreed to divest a number of assets, including several skincare brands, our Dendreon business and smaller international interests. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved our new psoriasis treatment, SILIQ(TM), and we resubmitted our glaucoma treatment, latanoprostene bunod in February 2017." The company is expecting 2017 revenue to range from $8.9 billion to $9.1 billion. Shares are down 79% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 22%.