Drugmaker Lilly cuts revenue forecast as dollar strengthens

(Reuters) - Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.N) cut its 2015 revenue forecast, issued earlier this month, as the U.S. drugmaker expects a bigger hit from a stronger dollar.

The company had accounted for an expected $500 million negative impact from the stronger dollar in its earlier forecast.

Large U.S. healthcare companies such as Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N) have in the past weeks issued 2015 earnings forecasts below Wall Street expectations, citing the stronger dollar.

After hitting a 6-1/2 month low in May, the dollar (.DXY) has surged about 20 percent against a basket of major currencies, making overseas sales denominated in other currencies less valuable in dollar terms.

Lilly now expects 2015 revenue to be in the range of $19.5 billion-$20 billion (12.95 billion-13.29 billion pounds), below the average analyst estimate of $20.67 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company had earlier forecast 2015 revenue to be in the range of $20.3 billion-$20.8 billion.

Lilly backed its 2015 adjusted earnings forecast of $3.10-$3.20 per share.

The company's hardships began in late 2011, when its best-selling Zyprexa treatment for schizophrenia began facing competition from cheaper generics, followed by patent expirations on its leading Cymbalta depression drug and Evista osteoporosis treatment.

Earnings fell 41 percent to $428.5 million, or 40 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 from $727.5 million, or 67 cents per share, a year earlier.

Lilly took restructuring and other special charges of $401 million in the quarter.

Excluding special items, Lilly earned 75 cents per share, above analysts' average estimate of 73 cents per share.

Total revenue slid 12 percent to $5.12 billion, below Wall Street's average expectation of $5.2 billion.

(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson in New York and Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)