Irvine-based Allergan Inc. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter profit rose about 8%, driven by double-digit sales growth of its core Botox wrinkle reducing drug.
Allergan earned $122 million in the quarter on sales of $595 million, which were up 7%.
Fourth-quarter Botox sales totaled $227 million, up 12% compared to a year ago, though some on Wall Street fretted about slower growth for the wrinkle reducer and put Allergan’s shares off about 2%.
Wall Street analysts had expected Allergan to earn $117.1 million on sales of $583 million in the fourth quarter.
Allergan also gave guidance for 2006. The drug maker said it expected to earn $468.5 million to $476.4 million, including a $26.3 million cost for expensing stock options.
Allergan’s pending acquisition of Santa Barbara-based breast implant maker Inamed Corp. is seen as neutral to 2006 earnings.
The company is awaiting word from federal regulators on its $3.2 billion buy of Inamed, and said that approval could be weeks away.
Meanwhile, Edwards Lifesciences Corp., the Irvine heart valve maker, beat Wall Street’s profit expectations with fourth-quarter results late Thursday.
Edwards said it earned $38.6 million, up 49% from a year earlier. Sales were up 5% to $250 million.
Analysts had expected Edwards to earn $29 million on sales of $253 million in the quarter.
For 2006, Edwards said it expected to earn $128.4 million to $134.4 million on sales of about $1.05 billion.
