OTTAWA: Canada’s Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc VRX.N VRX.TO reported a first-quarter profit on Tuesday, compared with a year-ago loss, due to a one-time income tax benefit, and the drugmaker also raised its full-year adjusted EBITDA forecast. The company’s U.S.-listed shares jumped about 13 percent in premarket trading. Net income attributable to Valeant was $628 million, or $1.79 per share, in the three months ended March 31, compared with a loss of $374 million, or $1.08 per share, a year earlier. Net income in the latest quarter included a one-time income tax benefit of $908 million from a non-cash internal restructuring that occurred during this time, Valeant said.
Revenue fell to $2.11 billion from $2.37 billion. Laval, Quebec-based Valeant has been trying to rebuild its business and regain investor confidence after the company came under investigations over its accounting and pricing practices. The troubled drugmaker, weighed down by debt from years of acquisitions, is on pace to meet its target of repaying $5 billion in debt between August, 2016 and February, 2018, Valeant’s Chief Executive Joe Papa told shareholders last week.
