Patheon To Sell One PR Site

Patheon announced that it plans to sell its facility in Carolina, PR, while retaining two other sites in Caguas and Manati. The announcement came during the company’s 4Q07 financial statement. The quarter ended October 31.

The Carolina site is a 230,000-square-foot facility with 200 employees, and specializes in the manufacture of oral cephalosporin solid dosage forms, including tablets, capsules and powders for suspension. The facility currently manufactures four products for six clients. Said outgoing chief executive officer Riccardo Trecroce, “We have concluded that Carolina — a high-quality site with specialized capabilities and expertise – would be of greater strategic value to another company with a focus on manufacturing oral cephalosporins. This divestiture will allow us to focus on improving operating performance and growing our business at the Caguas and Manati facilities.” During the quarter, the company announced the sale of its Niagara-Burlington OTC facility to Pharmetics.

For the quarter, revenues from continuing operations grew 1% to $167 million. The company posted a net loss (including discontinued units) of $9.1 million in the quarter, down from a loss of $22.2 million in 4Q06. For FY07, revenues from continuing operations was up 1% to $677 million, with a net loss of $94.6 million, compared to a loss of $288.2 million in FY06. Patheon took a goodwill writeoff of $255 million in FY06, which accounts for much of that year’s net loss.

Strong revenue growth in its European operations was offset by deteriorating revenues in PR (attributed to generic competition for Omnicef and Zocor) and a decline in Canadian sales (attributed to API delivery delays for a major prodct).