Monday, April 19, 2004 | 10:43 a.m.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Eli Lilly and Co. today said first-quarter earnings dipped 2 percent in part because of a $362 million expense related to an acquisition, but the drug maker's results still beat analysts' expectations.
Lilly also reported its fifth straight quarter of double-digit sales growth, driven in part by strong early sales of Cialis, Lilly's competitor to Pfizer's erectile dysfunction drug Viagra. The sales gain was offset in part by higher marketing and research expenses.
The Indianapolis-based company reported net income of $400 million, or 37 cents per share, for the January-March period compared with $407 million, or 38 cents a share, a year ago when Lilly recorded a $354 million one-time charge for employee severance costs.
Gross sales rose 17 percent to $3.38 billion from $2.89 billion in the first quarter of 2003.
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