King Pharmaceuticals Inc posted quarterly profit slightly below analysts' targets on Thursday, hurt by higher selling and administrative costs and lower sales of its Skelaxin muscle relaxant.

King posted fourth-quarter net income of $22.3 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $550.8 million, or $2.26 per share, a year earlier, when the company took a big charge tied to its acquisition of Alpharma Inc.

Excluding items, earnings of 23 cents per share were 1 cent below the analysts' average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

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