Syncor’s Profits Drop in Wake of Price Cuts

Syncor International Corp., a Chatsworth-based pharmacy services network, said it lost $1.1 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to earnings of $3 million in the same period a year earlier. The loss was on a 35% increase in revenue to $81.6 million from $60.4 million in the third quarter last year.

For the nine months, the company reported earnings of $1.8 million, an 80% decline from $8.8 million earned in the same period last year. Revenues for the period were $238.3 million, up 33% from $179.8 million a year earlier.

The company said its results for the nine months were affected by price cuts it made earlier this year. The cuts failed to bring about a projected increase in sales. Also, a flat market for nuclear medicine services--Syncor’s core business--and pressure to reduce costs in health care have hurt Syncor’s margins, despite a strategic alliance struck earlier this year with DuPont Co. and Merck & Co. that opened new areas of business, the company said.