Raising the Barr

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In the absence of company-generated pro forma results, it's been a little hard to compare Barr Pharmaceuticals' (NYSE: BRL) year-over-year revenue growth since its acquisition of Pliva last October. But in some areas, the acquisition of Pliva didn't add any products, and comparisons in those areas reveal a mixed bag.

Sales of Barr's bread and butter, generic oral contraceptives, declined $9 million year over year, but most of that decline was thanks to lower sales of Jolessa, which saw its sales numbers inflated in the year-ago quarter thanks to its launch. Even with the excuse, that's no growth in an area that represents 19% of total revenue.

Sales of branded drugs, which account for another 21% of revenue, were up 21% versus the year-ago quarter, spurred on by over-the-counter sales of the emergency contraceptive Plan B, as well as the addition of Adderall IR, which the company acquired from Shire (Nasdaq: SHPGY).

The addition of Pliva's sales outside the U.S. wasn't enough to raise the bottom line, and the company's adjusted earnings per share actually declined 14% thanks to increased interest expenses on the loan it used to fund the Pliva acquisition. In the coming quarters, Barr really needs to show a little bit more synergy between the companies in order to justify the $2.6 billion loan it had to take out to fund the acquisition.

The company isn't relying completely on its acquisition to grow its revenue. Barr is moving into injectable drugs; it now has six on the market, compared with zero a year ago. With nine ANDAs pending with the FDA and another 20 products in development, it looks like Barr is really trying to push into the injectable market dominated by Baxter (NYSE: BAX) and Hospira (NYSE: HSP).

On the branded side of things, look for growth in sales from new products as well. Barr has two New Drug Applications pending at the FDA, and the company expects to submit an NDA for Lo SEASONALE by the end of the year. With five products in phase 3 trials, expect more marketing applications in the future.

Barr's stock price has been languishing since its decision to purchase Pliva. While the purchase should help it compete against the larger Teva (Nasdaq: TEVA) and Novartis (NYSE: NVS), it's going to need to show growth in its bottom line in the coming quarters to get its stock out of its funk. It's in the process of selling off some of Pliva's losing businesses, which should help. But ultimately, the growth in earnings will need to come from decreased manufacturing and selling costs as a result of its now larger size.