By Rob Curran
West Pharmaceutical Services said its third-quarter earnings rose sharply amid stronger demand from its drug-manufacturing customers.
The Exton, Pa.-based provider of services to drugmakers posted net income of $161.3 million, or $2.14 a share, for the quarter ended in September, up from $120.6 million, or $1.59 a share, a year earlier. Excluding certain one-off items, West posted earnings of $2.16 a share, well above the mean analyst target of $1.86 a share, as tallied by FactSet.
Third-quarter sales rose 9% to $747.4 million, just shy of the average analyst target of $750 million, as per FactSet.
West’s board of directors approved an increase in its quarterly dividend to 20 cents a share from 19 cents a share previously. The dividend will be paid Nov. 15 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 8.
Write to Rob Curran at [email protected]
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