Investing.com - Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (NYSE:VRX) (TO:VRX) plummeted 16% in pre-market trade on Tuesday after reporting disappointing first quarter earnings and cutting its forward guidance.
The troubled pharmaceutical reported adjusted earnings-per-share (EPS) of $1.27, falling below expectations for $1.37.
Revenue in the first three months of the year settled at $2.37 billion, compared to the consensus forecast of $2.39 billion.
Furthermore, the Canadian firm once again cut its full-year guidance to $6.60-$7.00 per share, from the prior estimate of $8.50-$9.50.
Analysts had penciled in $8.47 for 2016.
The pharmaceutical had been struggling to turn around the company after facing scrutiny from the U.S. Congress, prosecutors, and regulators over its drug pricing, business practices and accounting practices.
Just last year, the agreement with the distributor of its drugs Philidor RX Services was terminated, hurting sales.
"The first quarter's results reflect, in part, the impact of significant disruption this organization has faced over the past nine months," chairman and chief executive officer Joseph Papa said.
"This has been a difficult period for Valeant and its stakeholders, and while there are some challenges to work through in certain business operations in 2016, such as our U.S. dermatology unit, the majority of our businesses are performing according to expectations,” he added.