Lilly exceeds 4Q expectations

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter profit of $478.4 million.

On a per-share basis, the Indianapolis-based company said it had profit of 45 cents. Earnings, adjusted for research and development costs and asset impairment costs, were 78 cents per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 77 cents per share.

The drugmaker posted revenue of $5.38 billion in the period, also beating Wall Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $5.28 billion.

For the year, the company reported profit of $2.41 billion, or $2.26 per share. Revenue was reported as $19.96 billion.

Lilly expects full-year earnings in the range of $3.45 to $3.55 per share, with revenue in the range of $20.2 billion to $20.7 billion.

Lilly shares have declined 3 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has decreased almost 8 percent. The stock has increased 14 percent in the last 12 months.