Amgen Q1 profit beats Street, health reform weighs

Amgen Inc reported better- than-expected first quarter profit on Wednesday, but sales of two of its top drugs missed Wall Street estimates and it said 2010 earnings would be at the low end of its forecast due to healthcare reform costs.

The world's largest biotechnology company also said it anticipated new US healthcare reform laws would cost it $200m to $250m this year. Amgen is the latest drugmaker to alter its 2010 forecast because of the healthcare reform. Amgen shares were off nearly 1 per cent in extended trading after initially falling more than 3 per cent. Amgen posted a net profit of $1.17bn, or $1.18 per share, compared with a profit of $1.02bn, or 98 cents per share, a year ago, when it endured a particularly bad quarter. Excluding items, Amgen earned $1.30 per share, topping analysts' average expectations by 7 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Amgen Chief Executive Kevin Sharer said in a statement that the company "will take appropriate steps to manage the impact of the new US healthcare reform law." The Thousand Oaks, California-based company previously forecast 2010 revenue of $15.1bn to $15.5bn and adjusted earnings of $5.05 to $5.25 per share, excluding items, and now believes it will end up toward the low end of that range. Total revenue for the quarter rose 9 per cent to $3.59bn, shy of Wall Street estimates of $3.65bn as sales of embattled anemia drug Aranesp and widely used rheumatoid arthritis treatment Enbrel missed analyst expectations.