Shares in Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) fell today after the French pharmaceutical giant missed expectations on Wall Street with its 4th quarter and full-year financial results.
The company faced particular challenges in its diabetes business, which saw its global sales plunge -14% in Q4. Revenues for Sanofi’s diabetes unit in the U.S. fell -29.5% compared to the same period last year, thanks in part to decisions made by CVS and UnitedHealthcare to exclude Sanofi’s diabetes products from its commercial formularies.
The Paris-based company posted profits of $1.64 billion, or $1.31 per share, on sales of $10.72 billion for the 3 months ended Dec. 31, for a bottom-line loss of -17% on a sales loss of -2% compared with the same period last year.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 12¢, behind consensus on The Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $10.75 billion.
“In 2017, we continued to execute on our strategic goals with the strong launch of Dupixent, the positive pivotal data for cemiplimab and for dupilumab in asthma. At the same time, we managed the challenges in U.S. diabetes as well as the impact from sevelamer generics and Dengvaxia,” CEO Olivier Brandicourt said in prepared remarks.
“Recently, we announced a series of strategic steps – we are obtaining the global rights to fitusiran and plan to acquire Bioverativ and Ablynx – which will establish Sanofi as a new global leader in rare blood disorders. Additionally, these actions will further strengthen our pipeline and provide us with the powerful new Nanobody technology platform. Overall, after a period of significant reshaping since 2015, we are positioned to drive growth in 2018.”
For the full year of 2017, Sanofi posted profits of $8.59 billion, down -4.7% compared to 2016, on sales of $43.24 billion.
SNY shares were trading at $40.60 apiece today when the market opened, down -4%.
(€1 = $1.23 USD)
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