Pfizer's revenue, profit beat as vaccine sales rise

REUTERS - Pfizer Inc on Tuesday reported better-than-expected second-quarter profit and revenue, helped by strong demand for its pneumonia vaccine and new breast cancer drug, sending its shares up 1 percent.

The largest U.S. drugmaker, which raised its full-year earnings forecast, said revenue from its global vaccines unit rose 44 percent to $1.58 billion. The unit, which includes the Prevnar 13 pneumonia vaccine, accounted for about 13 percent of Pfizer's total revenue.

The breast cancer drug Ibrance, which gained U.S. approval in February, generated $140 million in sales in its first full quarter on the market, nearly double analysts' expectations.

"The Ibrance launch is progressing well," JP Morgan analyst Chris Schott said in a note.

The company is planning to file for European approval of Ibrance in the current quarter.

Overall, sales of cancer drugs rose 25 percent to $713 million for the quarter.

Despite years of competition from cheaper generic copies, Pfizer's cholesterol fighter Lipitor contributed sales of $509 million in the second quarter. At its height, Lipitor generated annual sales of $13 billion.

Sales of consumer healthcare products were weak, falling 8 percent to $840 million.

The drugmaker raised its adjusted profit forecast for 2015 to $2.01-$2.07 per share from $1.95-$2.05 per share.

It increased the lower end of its full-year revenue forecast to $45 billion from $44 billion, maintaining the upper end at $46 billion.

Pfizer, which got nearly two-thirds of its 2014 revenue from markets outside the United States, had cut its full-year revenue and profit forecasts in April, citing a strong dollar.

The company's second-quarter net income fell to $2.63 billion, or 42 cents per share, from $2.91 billion, or 45 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, Pfizer earned 56 cents per share, topping analysts' average expectations by 4 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The earnings beat "was particularly impressive given that top-line foreign exchange headwind of 8 percent ($1 billion) was 1 percent higher than our forecast," BMO Capital Markets analyst Alex Arfaei said in a research note.

Revenue fell 7 percent to $11.85 billion. Wall Street was looking for $11.42 billion.

Pfizer's shares were up 36 cents at $34.70 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Bill Berkrot in New York and Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Jennings, Kirti Pandey and Paul Simao)