Several companies based in Utah or with ties to the state reported quarterly financial results on Tuesday.
NPS Pharmaceuticals
Salt Lake-based NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported a net loss of $38.3 million, or 83 cents per share, for the quarter ended March 31. That compares with a loss of $45 million, or $1.16 per share, for the 2005 first quarter.
The most recent quarter included stock-based compensation that increased the net loss by $3.6 million, or 8 cents per share, excluding the compensation expense related to accelerated vesting of stock options under severance agreements. NPS also recorded compensation cost in the first quarter of 2006 of $2.1 million for accelerated vesting of stock options under severance agreements.
Revenues totaled $6.1 million, up from $1.6 million in the year-earlier quarter.
At the end of the quarter, the company had $215.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable investment securities.
NPS discovers, develops and commercializes small molecules and recombinant proteins as drugs, primarily for the treatment of metabolic, bone and mineral, and central nervous system disorders.
NPS stock fell a penny Tuesday to close at $8.21 per share. During the past year, the price has ranged from $8.15 to $16.
Myriad Genetics
Biopharmaceutical company Myriad Genetics Inc. reported a net loss of $9.6 million, or 24 cents per share, for the quarter ended March 31. That compares with a loss of $10 million, or 32 cents per share, for the same quarter a year earlier.
The Salt Lake-based company said revenues for the third fiscal quarter totaled $29.8 million, up from $20 million a year earlier. Predictive medicine product revenues climbed from $18.4 million to $26.9 million.
Myriad said it ended the quarter with no debt and approximately $229 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable investment securities.
Myriad stock rose $1.54 Tuesday to close at $26.86 per share. During the past year, the price has ranged from $15.06 to $28.09.
Myriad also said Tuesday it has started a first-phase human clinical trial of MPC-0920, a thrombin inhibitor. The trial will determine the safety, dose range and pharmacokinetics of the drug candidate. Thrombosis is the formation of a clot within a blood vessel.
1-800 CONTACTS
Draper-based replacement contact lens company 1-800 CONTACTS Inc. reported net income of $1.2 million, or 9 cents per share, for the quarter ended April 1. That compares with net income of $200,000, or 1 cent per share, for the 2005 first quarter.
The results for the most recent quarter include $300,000 of expense related to stock options granted prior to fiscal 2006 and approximately $50,000 of expense related to restricted stock grants, compared to approximately $5,000 of expense related to restricted stock grants in the first quarter of fiscal 2005.
Sales totaled $63.5 million, up from $60.3 million in the year-earlier period.
The company's stock rose 14 cents Tuesday to close at $12.80 per share. During the past year, the price has ranged from $10.54 to $20.62.
Sonic Innovations
Salt Lake-based digital hearing aid company Sonic Innovations Inc. reported a net loss of nearly $1.6 million, or 7 cents per share, for the quarter ended March 31. That compares with a net loss of $3.5 million, or 16 cents per share, for the 2005 first quarter.
Sales totaled $25.9 million, about the same as a year ago.
At the end of the quarter, the company had cash and marketable securities, including restricted and long-term marketable securities, of $16.2 million, and debt of $6 million.
Sonic stock fell 13 cents Tuesday to close at $5.15 per share. During the past year, the price has ranged from $2.93 to $5.52.
Genesee & Wyoming
Connecticut-based Genesee & Wyoming Inc., owner of the Utah Railway Co., reported net income of $14 million, or 33 cents per share, for the first quarter. That compares with $10.9 million, or 26 cents per share, for the year-earlier quarter.
The short-line and regional freight railroad operator said revenues totaled $113 million, up from $84 million in the year-earlier quarter.
GWI has operations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia and Bolivia.
GWI stock fell 90 cents Tuesday to close at $32.65 per share. During the past year, the price has ranged from $15.35 to $36.50.
Cephalon
Cephalon Inc., the maker of the Provigil sleep-disorder medicine, said first-quarter profit fell 87 percent, lowered by a payment to Mylan Laboratories Inc. for developing pain and nervous-system drugs. Revenue rose.
Net income declined to $3.57 million, or 5 cents a share, from $26.7 million, or 44 cents, a year earlier, Pennsylvania-based Cephalon said. Revenue jumped 27 percent to $356.9 million from $280 million.
The company's agreements with Mylan, which will give Cephalon access to a new technology for administering drugs, cut earnings by $30 million.
Cephalon, which produces several products in Salt Lake City, including Actiq, released results after U.S. markets closed. The shares dropped $1.14, or 1.7 percent, to $64.54 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. They fell 6.9 percent during the first quarter.
Excluding the Mylan payment and other items, Cephalon said it would have had so-called basic earnings of 86 cents a share. Basic earnings per share ignores stock options and other items that might eventually dilute a shareholder's interest. Diluted earnings per share excluding some items would have been 70 cents.
Pilgrim's Pride
Pilgrim's Pride Corp., the second-biggest U.S. poultry processor, had its first loss in three years on lower chicken prices and weak export demand. The shares rose as the company said it will cut output to trim supplies.
The net loss for the company, which has a distribution center in Salt Lake City, was $32 million, or 48 cents a share, in the three months ended March 31, compared with profit of $56.4 million, or 85 cents, in the year-earlier second quarter, the Texas-based company said. Sales fell 8 percent to $1.27 billion.
Shares of Pilgrim's Pride rose $1.93, or 7.5 percent, Tuesday to $27.80 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the highest closing price this year. The stock has fallen 24 percent from a year ago.
Contributing: Bloomberg News