The fourth-quarter charges totaled $3.4 billion, or $1.55 per share; that included a charge for Merck's pending $4.85 billion settlement to end the bulk of lawsuits over Vioxx, the painkiller it pulled from the market in September 2004 because it increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Excluding the one-time earnings, net income would have been 80 cents per share.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting earnings of 74 cents per share and revenues of $6.3 billion; their estimates generally exclude one-time items.
Revenues totaled $6.24 billion, up 3 percent from $6.04 billion in 2006's fourth quarter.
Merck said it expects full-year 2008 earnings per share of $3.80 to $4, excluding one-time items. That's down from its prior forecast, issued in early December, of $3.96 to $4.06, excluding items.
