Canadian drugmaker faces default on US$30 bln debt

Valeant pulled its financial guidance and delayed reporting fourth-quarter results.

Valeant then has 60 days to file the annual report and cure the default.

Valeant said it was beginning the process of contacting its bank lenders in the upcoming week to request an extension of its deadlines for filing the 10-K and its 10-Q quarterly report which is due during the first quarter of 2016. Pearson, who recently returned from a medical leave of absence, said Valeant is "committed to getting it back on track". (VRX), a pharmaceuticals company yesterday reported their fourth quarter 2015 financial results and provided guidance for 2016.

"We admit upfront, we have been humbled by our stock call on Valeant, which we have defended despite the continuing spate of bad news, as we believed that despite the noise surrounding the company, much of the fundamental businesses had been performing well", wrote Nomura analyst Shibani Malhotra as she downgraded the stock to neutral from buy.

Pearson continued, "In discussion with the Board, we have assumed lower growth in our USA dermatology, gastrointestinal, and woman's health portfolios, as well as certain geographies like Western Europe, while keeping our expenses largely unchanged". The negative effect is more improved because of the management issues and restructuring within the organization.

Last month, the company postponed its previously announced earnings call to discuss the preliminary fourth-quarter 2015 results and reported the identification of approximately $58 million of net revenue, previously recognized in the second half of 2014, which were supposed to be recognized on the supply of products to patients rather than on delivery to Philidor. Analysts expected revenue of $2.75 billion.

Under its loan agreements, Valeant has until March 30 to file audited financial reports.

"In a sense, we've botched a quarter", Pearson said. He didn't outline yet what those assets could be, though he said the company isn't considering a sale of a "major platform".

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At the moment 21 analysts are watching Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. Raffat said that although a lot of pharmacies canceled Xifaxan orders during Valeant's recent turmoil, prescriptions were still being filled.

In a statement, Valeant Pharmaceuticals CEO Michael Pearson said the challenges confronting the company are not yet behind them and their objective is to balance their priorities. Mr. Ackman maintains that Valeant's stock price - down more than 85 per cent since its peak in August - doesn't reflect the underlying value of the business.

Sell-side research firms on Wall Street now have a consensus one year price target of 137.6500 on the stock.

After adjustments, Valeant says it earned US$875.7 million or $2.50 per share. Salix and the Company are continuing to respond to the subpoena and are cooperating fully with the subpoena and related government investigation.

The drugmaker posted revenue of $2.79 billion in the period, topping Street forecasts.

In terms of earnings per share, 16 analysts have a 2.63 EPS mean target for the quarter ending Mar-16, for the quarter ending Jun-16, 16 analysts have a 3.18 EPS mean target and for the quarter ending Jun-16 there are 22 estimates of 13.24 EPS.

For Q1, the company now expects adjusted earnings to range from $1.30 to $1.55 per share on revenues of between $2.3 billion and $2.4 billion, compared to previous guidance of $2.35 to $2.55 of EPS on $2.8 billion to $3.1 billion of revenues. Valeant Pharmaceuticals was in deep waters right from the tweet of Hillary Clinton, about the heightened prices. Valeant has since launched an internal investigation into the matter.