Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s earnings almost doubled in the fiscal fourth quarter, boosted by revenue from products acquired in the past year. Profit beat analysts' estimates, and the shares rose the most in almost a year.

Net income for the quarter ended June 30 climbed to $82.3 million, or 76 cents a share, from $42.1 million, or 40 cents, a year earlier, the Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based company said in a statement today. Revenue rose 25 percent to $351.7 million.

Barr, the biggest U.S. maker of birth control pills, acquired the ParaGard intrauterine device and the Mircette contraceptive pill in the past year, helping the company build revenue as it faces increasing competition for some of its other products. Barr also began receiving revenue from copies of Sanofi-Aventis SA's Allegra allergy drug.

``They had a very solid quarter,'' said William Sawyer, an analyst with Leerink Swann & Co. in New York, in a telephone interview today. He rates the shares ``outperform.'' ``We see sold revenue growth in 2007 and beyond.''

Barr's shares rose $3.53, or 6.8 percent, to $55.85 at 4:02 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the biggest increase since September 2005. The stock has declined 11 percent this year.

Profit in the 2005 fourth quarter was reduced by $63 million because of a legal settlement and acquisition.

Estimates

Excluding certain costs, Barr said fourth quarter profit was 84 cents a share. That beat the 72-cent estimate of Robert Uhl, an analyst with Friedman Billings Ramsey in Arlington, Virginia, rated four stars out of five on accuracy by StarMine Corp. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected 73 cents, the average of 16 estimates. Thomson didn't respond to a request to disclose the basis for the projections.

Barr forecast earnings of 73 cents to 76 cents for the quarter ending September 30. The company had not previously provided a forecast for that quarter. The estimate doesn't include costs for a proposed acquisition of Pliva d.d., other ``business development,'' litigation settlements or share repurchases.

For the quarter, revenue from drugs marketed in an alliance with other companies, including the generic version of Allegra, more than tripled from a year earlier to $32 million. Sales of generics rose 17 percent to $222 million and proprietary product sales increased 21 percent to $97 million.

Fiscal year

For the fiscal year, Barr reported net income increased 57 percent to $336.5 million, or $3.12 a share. Revenue rose 24 percent to $1.3 billion.

Barr, which derives about two-thirds of its sales from generic medicines, is trying to acquire Zagreb, Croatia-based Pliva to gain access to that company's generic-drug markets in Russia, the U.K., Germany, Spain and Italy.

Barr, which makes the ``morning after'' emergency contraceptive called Plan B, said last week it may be close to resolving with the Food and Drug Administration a longstanding request to make the drug available without a prescription. The contraceptive has been available with a prescription since 1999.

Plan B sales are ``trending in excess of $30 million per year,'' said Barr spokeswoman Carol Cox. Sales may double if Plan B is made available over the counter, Barr's Chief Executive Officer Bruce Downey has said.

Shire Plc, based in Basingstoke, England, yesterday said it settled a patent lawsuit with Barr, protecting Shire's best- selling Adderall XR hyperactivity drug from cheaper rival copies until 2009.

Barr won't be allowed to market a generic version of the drug in the U.S. until April 1, 2009, unless a generic version is introduced by another drugmaker. Barr was the first company to seek Food and Drug Administration permission to sell the generic version.

To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Blum in Washington at at jblum4@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 15, 2006 16:18 EDT