Bergen Brunswig Profit Falls 66% in 3rd Quarter

Bergen Brunswig Corp. said net earnings for its fiscal 1986 third quarter were $2.3 million, down 66.2% year to year from $6.8 million. Revenue for the period ended May 31 was $769 million, up 15% from $664 million.

For the first nine months of the fiscal year, the Orange medical products and consumer electronics company reported net earnings of $14.9 million, down 13.9% from $17.3 million. Revenue increased 30% to $2.28 billion from $1.75 billion.

Emil P. Martini Jr., chairman and chief executive, said he is “very disappointed” with the decline in earnings, which he attributed primarily to the performance of several recent acquisitions and to the company’s decision to increase inventory and interest expenses by buying a large volume of drug products to avoid anticipated price hikes.

Martini said, however, that while Bergen Brunswig’s drug and medical and surgical supply companies “have experienced this temporary erosion” of profitability, “the Commtron consumer electronics subsidiary is running ahead of last year.”