AmerisourceBergen expects possible 20 percent earnings increase

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. AmerisourceBergen will again release its previous first quarter and full fiscal year 2008 information at its Investor Day Meeting in New York City.

The company continues to expect diluted earnings per share for fiscal year 2008 to be in the range of $2.77 to $2.95. This represents an increase of approximately 13 percent to 20 percent over the $2.46 earnings per share for fiscal year 2007.

Also unchanged are the key assumptions supporting the company’s diluted earnings per share expectations for fiscal year 2008, which are: operating revenue growth between 5 percent and 7 percent; operating margin expansion in the pharmaceutical distribution segment; and free cash flow in the range of $450 million to $525 million, which includes capital expenditures of approximately $125 million. The company also anticipates spending $400 million to $500 million to repurchase its common shares during fiscal year 2008.

AmerisourceBergen continues to expect diluted earnings per share in the December quarter of fiscal 2008, its fiscal first quarter, to be similar to the same quarter last fiscal year, which was 62 cents. Operating revenue growth in the December quarter is expected to be below the 5 percent to 7 percent range expected for the entire 2008 fiscal year due to the negative impact from lower sales of anemia pharmaceuticals, the loss of a large specialty customer because of its acquisition by a competitor, and the company’s loss of a large retail customer in January 2007.