Genzyme's profit more than doubles

Genzyme Corp.’s second-quarter profit more than doubled, mainly on lower charges and research and development expenses, but the Cambridge company slashed its outlook because of production issues.

The company said it earned $192.2 million, or 70 cents per share, up from $69.6 million, or 25 cents per share, during the same period a year prior. Revenue rose 5 percent to $1.23 billion. A year earlier, the company had a hefty charge for buying rights to an Isis Pharmaceuticals product.

Excluding charges in the most recent quarter, the company said it earned 85 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected profit of 85 cents per share on revenue of $1.26 billion.

The biotechnology company focuses on treatments for rare diseases, including Myozyme for Pompe disease. The company had been facing supply problems in the United States and Europe but said it is solving the issue. It recently received approval for a larger-scale production process in Europe, but doesn’t expect similar US approval until the first quarter of next year.

More recently, Genzyme had to shut down and decontaminate a facility in Allston that makes the genetic disorder treatments Fabrazyme and Cerezyme. The June shutdown of bioreactors followed the discovery that a virus was impairing cell growth of the drugs. The company said the decontamination is now complete, but the shutdown prompted deep cuts in full-year guidance.

The company slashed its 2009 outlook because of the temporary shutdown. It now expects adjusted profit between $2.35 and $2.90 per share, down from prior guidance of about $3.52. Revenue guidance was cut to between $4.6 billion and $5 billion from a prior range of $5.15 billion to $5.35 billion. (AP)

Morgan Stanley said it lost more than $1.2 billion in the second quarter as it took charges to cover continuing losses in its real estate investments and its repayment of government bailout money.

The investment bank said it was also hurt for a second straight quarter by an accounting charge related to the rising value of its own debt. Analysts said that while Morgan Stanley’s investment banking revenue was strong, its conservative approach to trading hindered its ability to offset the special charges.

Morgan Stanley said its net loss after paying preferred dividends was $1.26 billion, or $1.10 per share. The bank earned $1.06 billion, or $1.02 per share, during the same quarter last year. (AP)

The owner of the most visited US e-commerce website, eBay Inc., reported second-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates, a sign that chief executive John Donahoe’s turnaround efforts are working.

Net income fell to $327.3 million, or 25 cents a share, from $460.3 million, or 35 cents, a year earlier, the San Jose, Calif., company said.

Donahoe is pushing eBay toward more fixed-price items and away from its roots as an online auctioneer, an effort to stem defections to Amazon.com.

Second-quarter revenue was $2.1 billion. (Bloomberg)

Drug developer Dyax Corp.’s second-quarter loss narrowed, following a restructuring.

Cambridge-based Dyax lost $14.8 million, or 23 cents per share, compared with a loss of $24.9 million, or 41 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 11 percent, to $4.2 million.

Operating expenses fell 40 percent to $16.4 million from cost savings following a restructuring program and the closing a year ago of a research facility in Belgium. The company also had lower clinical trial costs. (AP)

Falling consumer demand slashed second-quarter profit 33 percent at Whirlpool Corp., the world’s largest maker of home appliances. That was better than analysts expected, and the company brightened its full-year forecast.

But revenue dropped 18 percent, to $4.17 billion, missing Wall Street’s average forecast of $4.2 billion, and investors pushed the stock down.

Whirlpool earned $78 million, or $1.04 per share, for the period ended June 30.

That’s down from $117 million, or $1.53 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted a profit of just 51 cents per share.

Whirlpool has found that shoppers are still putting off some appliance purchases amid a recession complicated by tight credit and falling housing prices, both of which directly affect the market for appliances.

“Consumer demand for appliances was significantly lower in the second quarter, which negatively impacted our global unit volumes,’’ chairman and chief executive Jeff M. Fettig said.

The sales decline was driven by lower unit volumes in both North America and Europe and sharpened by unfavorable foreign currency translation, Fettig said during a teleconference with analysts. (AP)