Earnings roundup

Several companies with Utah connections announced quarterly financial results Tuesday.

La-Z-Boy

Michigan-based La-Z-Boy Inc., which has about 1,000 workers at a manufacturing plant in Tremonton, reported net income of $10.5 million, or 20 cents per share, for the quarter ended Jan. 28. That compares with $11 million, or 21 cents per share, for the same quarter a year earlier.

Wall Street had expected the company to earn 15 cents per share during the most recent quarter.

Sales for the third fiscal quarter totaled $502.3 million, down from $507 million in the prior-year period.

The company's stock rose 2 cents Tuesday to close at $16.26 per share. During the past year, the price has ranged from $10.13 to $17.21.

The company also declared a quarterly cash dividend of 11 cents per share on its common stock. The dividend is payable March 10 to shareholders of record on Feb. 24.

Cephalon

Cephalon Inc., the maker of the Provigil sleep-disorder medicine, said fourth-quarter profit fell 77 percent on costs tied to the acquisition of U.K. drugmaker Zeneus Holdings Ltd. and the settlement of a patent dispute.

Net income declined to $18.1 million, or 30 cents a share, from $78.1 million, or $1.23, a year earlier, the Pennsylvania-based company said. Revenue climbed 13 percent to $336.4 million from $299 million.

Cephalon produces several products in Salt Lake City, including its Actiq medicine. Actiq sales climbed 36 percent to $117.8 million during the quarter.

Cephalon in December bought Zeneus for $360 million to increase cancer-drug sales in Europe. The company also signed agreements with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. during the quarter that will protect Provigil, its best-selling drug, from competition for five more years.

Cephalon shares rose $1.18, or 1.7 percent, to $71.75 Tuesday in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. They had gained 37 percent in the 12 months before Tuesday.

Genesee & Wyoming

Genesee & Wyoming Inc., the owner of railroads in five countries, including the Utah Railway Co., agreed to sell a stake in an Australian railway and said fourth-quarter profit rose 51 percent, helped by an acquisition. The shares rose to a record.