Perrigo announces record sales for Q2

ALLEGAN, Mich. Perrigo today announced the results of its second quarter fiscal year 2008 and the six months that ended Dec. 29, 2007.

Net sales for the second quarter were $435.5 million, a record and an increase of $64.9 million. For the six-month period, net sales were $818.2 million, an increase of 15 percent compared to last year.

The Rx pharmaceuticals segment reported sales of $38.7 million, an increase of $10.4 million compared with the $28.3 million of a year ago. The six-month period saw net sales of $73.6 million, an increase of $13.9 million from last year.

Perrigo chairman and chief executive officer, Joseph Papa, stated, “I am extremely pleased with our performance this quarter both financially and operationally. Record sales were achieved through double-digit sales growth in each of our business segments. Operating income grew 85 percent from last year on a 390 basis point improvement in gross margins. These improvements, along with continued focus on working capital, generated $67 million in cash flow from operations, up $43 million from last year. These results also come before the largest new product launch in our history, Omeprazole, which we expect to start shipping by the end of our third fiscal quarter.”

For the year 2008, the company expects to generate cash from operations in the range of $180 million to $200 million.