1991 Profits Double for Drug Maker : Earnings: SPI Pharmaceuticals, which posted record net income, gives part of credit to joint venture in Eastern Europe.

COSTA MESA — Buoyed by its success in Eastern Europe, SPI Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Monday that its 1991 profits doubled to $30 million.

The Costa Mesa manufacturer and distributor of pharmaceutical products posted a record net income of $30.12 million, equal to $1.73 a share, up 102% from $14.92 million, or 95 cents a share, in 1990.

Revenue for the year reached $364.35 million, up 158% from $140.71 million in 1990.

The company, a subsidiary of ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., said its fourth-quarter results would be delayed a few days because of a shift in its financial reporting. In 1991, it switched to reporting on a calendar-year basis instead of using a fiscal year, which ended Nov. 30.

SPI attributed part of its record-breaking sales to its profitable joint venture with Yugoslavia’s Galenika Pharmaceuticals--ICN Galenika--which began operating last May. Although he declined to specify Eastern European sales, ICN Pharmaceuticals’ chief financial officer, John E. Giordano, said that region accounted for a “significant percentage” of the company’s sales last year.

SPI said sales of its top 10 products--including vitamins, antibiotics and antiviral drugs--rose to $126 million from $49 million in 1990. These products accounted for more than a third of the company’s total sales, Giordano said.

SPI also eliminated certain nutritional product lines--mostly vitamins that accounted for 1% of sales--to concentrate on more profitable products, said spokesman Paul Knopick. This will result in a onetime charge of $11 million in the fourth quarter, he said.

SPI is expected to announce today the opening of a $17-million pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Barcelona, Spain--joining two other drug-making facilities that SPI uses in the Netherlands and Yugoslavia. The company is also negotiating to establish a joint venture with a major pharmaceutical company in Russia.

The investment community reacted favorably. SPI shares rose by 50 cents Monday, closing at $29.75 per share in trading on the American Stock Exchange.

European Sales Aid Profitability

SPI Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported profits of $30.1 million as its revenues soared by 158% to $364.3 million. The company said it benefited from increased sales in Eastern Europe through its joint venture in Yugoslavia.

(Dollars in thousands, except per-share data)

Percent 1991 1990 Change Total revenue $364,358 $140,716 158% Net earnings 30,126 14,920 102% Earnings per share 1.73 0.95 82.1%

Source: SPI Pharmaceuticals Inc.