Schering AG beats Street

Schering AG (FSE:SCH; SHR) reported fourth quarter and full year 2002 EPS of EUR 0.52 ($0.56) and EUR 2.35 ($2.52), excluding extraordinary income from the sale of SCH's Aventis CropScience shares. The Street, which only makes annual EPS estimates that may not be adjusted to account for currency fluctuations favoring the Euro, had expected 2002 EPS of $2.32. SCH's sales for the fourth quarter were EUR 1.3 billion ($1.4 billion), including EUR 209 million from multiple sclerosis drug Betaferon ( Betaseron) interferon beta-1b. ...