Bergen Brunswig

Executive Summary

Write off of $505 mil. on Bergen's long-term care pharmacy provider PharMerica recorded in fiscal fourth quarter recognizes that "the price that we paid for this business was too high," the company said during a Nov. 3 conference call. Bergen completed the acquisition, valued at about $1.4 bil. including assumption of debt, in April 1999. The write off was based on a decline in gross profit margins to around 35%. The company's "outlook is that those gross profit margins are not going to go back up to the historical 40% range," Bergen Exec VP Neil Dimick said. Bergen also wrote off $67 mil. for "doubtful receivables" from two long-term care customers