Drug maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International said on Thursday it swung to a third-quarter profit, but said the results could change due to the ongoing review of its past stock option practices.

Valeant posted net income of $11.5 million, 12 cents per share, for the quarter, compared with a loss of $3.7 million, or 4 cents per share, last year. Excluding one-time charges, earnings from continuing operations were $13.6 million, or 14 cents per share.

Quarterly sales rose slightly to $219.4 million compared with $205 million last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, expected earnings of 13 cents per share on sales of $225.7 million.

"The preliminary financial information could be significantly impacted by the effects of the pending restatement associated with the stock option review and by information that may subsequently become available that could alter the estimates and assumptions used in its preparation," Valeant said in a press release.

Also because of the restatements, Valeant said it will not declare a dividend for the third quarter, which "will limit the company's ability to declare or pay dividends in the future."

The company recorded a gain of $17.6 million in the third quarter from a settlement agreement with its former chairman and chief executive, and recorded restructuring charges of $15 million mostly from an impairment charge for assets held for sale. Restructuring charges in 2006 are expected to be between $90 million and $115 million.

Valeant has said it should have used different measurement dates for computing stock option grants going back to 1997 and that its financial statements for and after that year should no longer be relied upon. The Securities and Exchange Commission also is informally investigating Valeant's stock option granting practices dating from Jan. 1, 2000, and the company continues to cooperate with that inquiry.

There are about 98 companies currently under SEC or Justice Department stock-options grant scrutiny, plus at least 58 other companies that have launched or completed internal reviews into their stock options practices, according to an Associated Press review.

At least 41 senior executives or directors, including 11 CEOs, nine finance chiefs and eight general counsels have been fired or have stepped down at 20 companies.

Shares of Valeant dipped 49 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $18.01 on the New York Stock Exchange.