The U.S. drug maker Eli Lilly and Co reports that it suffers from a plunge of 58% of its quarterly earnings which was caused by the special chargers as well as generic competition in the market for its drug for its biggest drugs.
As Eli Lilly said in one of its statements, it earned $0.47 per share during the third quarter which is equal to $501 million. This is way low compared to its earnings last year which was recorded at $1.20 billion or a per share price of $1.11.
The special items like research collaborations of $95 million excluded from its net earnings, the company earned $0.66 per share.
As for Lilly’s earnings, it had been suffering since 2011 with the end of the year record showed that its top-selling schizophrenia drug Zyprexa started to struggle because of the availability of cheaper generics for schizophrenia in the U.S.
What made it more painful is that its biggest drug Cymbalta went generic last December and its Evista treatment for osteoporosis started facing generics in March.
With so many troubles that the company is currently facing, Lilly is still expecting that its 2014 earnings will range from $2.72 to $2.80 per share not including any special item. If it’s able to end the year meeting its expectations, Lilly should be at a decline of 35% of its earnings compared to that of 2013.