Ireland-based Allergan, whose $160 billion merger with Pfizer Inc fell apart last month, reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, led by strong sales of wrinkle treatment Botox and eye drug Restasis.

Allergan, known as Actavis until it bought Botox-maker Allergan last year and took on its name, also said that its board had authorised a new share repurchase program of up to $10 billion.

The buyback follows Allergan's agreement to sell its generic drug business to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd for $40.5 billion. That deal is expected to close in June. The company's shares were up slightly in premarket trading.

Up to Monday’s close of $213.71, Allergan’s shares had fallen about 23 per cent since Pfizer scrapped the merger, which would have been the biggest-ever in the pharmaceutical sector. The deal collapsed after the US Treasury issued new rules curbing tax inversions, under which American companies move their domicile overseas to cut taxes.

Allegan said revenue in its US brands business, which includes Botox and Restasis, rose 27.3 per cent to $2.30 billion in the first quarter ended March 31. The unit accounts for about 60 per cent of the company’s total revenue.

Allergan reported net income attributable to ordinary shareholders of $186.1 million, or 47 cents per share, compared with a loss of $535.2 million, or $1.85 per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, the company earned $3.04 per share, slightly above the average analysts’ estimate of $3.01, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Total revenue rose 48 per cent to about $3.80 billion, short of the average estimate of $3.95 billion.

Reuters