By Denny Jacob

Elanco Animal Health narrowed its fourth-quarter loss despite lower sales, but its forecast for the current quarter and full year came in below Wall Street's estimates.

The developer and manufacturer of pet and farm-animal products said its loss narrowed to $8 million, or 2 cents a share, from a loss of $141 million, or 29 cents a share, in the prior-year period.

Stripping out certain one-time items, earnings were 14 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 15 cents a share.

Revenue edged down to $1.02 billion from $1.04 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $1.01 billion.

Revenue in its pet health business rose 5.5% to $439 million from the prior-year period with a 3% increase from price in the quarter. The company attributed the year-over-year gain to contributions from strength in the over-the-counter tail parasiticide business, among other factors.

Meanwhile, revenue in the farm animal business declined 6.6% from the prior-year period to $570 million. The company noted certain gains were partially offset by the impact of a recall for Kexxtone, among other factors.

For the first quarter, Elanco forecast revenue between $1.16 billion and $1.18 billion and adjusted earnings in the range of 29 cents to 34 cents. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $1.21 billion in revenue and 30 cents a share in adjusted earnings.

For 2025, Elanco forecasts revenue between $4.45 billion and $4.51 billion with adjusted earnings per-share of 80 cents to 86 cents. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $4.52 billion in revenue and 89 cents a share in adjusted earnings.

Write to Denny Jacob at denny.jacob@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 25, 2025 08:00 ET (13:00 GMT)

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