Eli Lilly posts big year-on-year gains for Q4

INDIANAPOLIS Eli Lilly announced that its fourth quarter profit surged from a year ago, according to published reports.

For the quarter that ended Dec. 31, the company earned $854.4 million, compared with $132.3 million a year ago. Revenue rose 22 percent to $5.19 billion from $4.25 billion, benefiting partly from a 10 percent rise in Zyprexa sales.

The results beat estimates by analysts polled by Thomson Financial, who forecast profit of 89 cents per share on $4.81 billion in revenue. The analysts’ earnings estimates typically exclude one-time items.

“Our additional investment in sales and marketing helped fuel accelerated double-digit sales growth this quarter, which was once again driven mainly by volume,” said chairman and chief executive Sidney Taurel, the Associated Press reported.