InVentiv Health 2nd-Quarter Earnings Double, Helped by Tax Benefit

InVentiv Health Inc., which provides services for the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries, said Tuesday its second-quarter earnings doubled, boosted by a $9.1 million tax gain and increased sales in its communications segment.

The company earned $21 million, or 69 cents per share, compared with $10.5 million, or 38 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding the tax benefit from the sale of divested entities, including three overseas contract sales organizations and two U.S.-based medical communication companies, inVentive said it earned 37 cents per share. That tops Wall Street estimates, as analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected per-share earnings of 32 cents.

Revenue jumped 38.8 percent to $183 million from $131.8 million, boosted by communications segment contracts which added or expanded business with 14 clients during the quarter. Analysts expected revenue of $181.3 million.

The communications segment saw revenue increase 19 percent to $64.5 million, while the clinical trial segment's revenue increased 38 percent to $38.4 million. Meanwhile, the commercial segment saw its revenue fall 23 percent to $80 million, as a result of the anticipated wind-down of some sales teams.

Also Tuesday, InVentiv said it signed a sales team contract with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. Details of the multiyear deal were not disclosed.

Shares of inVentiv jumped $3.19, or 11.8 percent, to $30.18 on the Nasdaq in afternoon trading. The stock has traded between $21.75 and $33.87 over the past year.