PARIS (Agefi-Dow Jones)–The pharmaceutical group Sanofi confirmed on Thursday that it is aiming for further growth in its net earnings per share (EPS) from activities in 2022, after performing significantly above analysts’ expectations in the first quarter.
“We are off to a particularly strong start to 2022, driven by the continued remarkable performance of Dupixent” and are “well positioned to achieve our 2022 financial outlook despite the challenges posed by the current economic environment”, commented Paul Hudson, the general manager of Sanofi, quoted in a press release.
For 2022, Sanofi executives are still expecting EPS to rise “in the lower double-digit range” at constant exchange rates, “barring unforeseen major adverse events”. This indicator stood at 6.56 euros last year. The positive currency effect on business EPS in 2022 is estimated to be between 4% and 5% applying average April exchange rates, Sanofi added in a statement.
During the first three months of the year, net profit from activities – which corresponds to net profit excluding the impact of disposals and acquisitions – increased by 20.2% on a reported basis and by 16% at constant exchange rates compared to at the same period in 2021, to 2.42 billion euros. Business EPS was €1.94, up 20.5% on a reported basis and 16.1% at constant exchange rates.
Dupixent sales jumped 45.7%
According to Sanofi, business EPS benefited in the first quarter from an improvement in the effective tax rate, higher margins and sales growth. The laboratory’s turnover increased by 12.6% in published data and by 8.6% at exchange rates over the period, to 9.67 billion euros.
Revenue from the general medicine business fell 0.7% at constant exchange rates in the first quarter, to 3.76 billion euros, but remained stable “excluding the impact of the simplification of the portfolio”. Sanofi Genzyme, the group’s global specialty medicine entity, recorded a 17.8% improvement in sales at constant exchange rates, to 3.57 billion euros. This division benefited from the 45.7% growth in sales of Dupixent, a drug used to treat several inflammatory diseases, to 1.61 billion euros. Last month, Sanofi increased its sales target to more than 13 billion euros at cruising speed for Dupixent.
At constant exchange rates, vaccines sales increased by 6.8% in the first quarter, to 1.02 billion euros, while the consumer health business expanded by 17% to represent a figure turnover of 1.33 billion euros.
In the first quarter, Sanofi performed significantly above the expectations of financial intermediaries. According to the consensus drawn up by Vara Research, analysts on average expected net income from operations of 2.22 billion euros, or 1.78 euros per share, and sales of 9.32 billion euros in first trimester.
-Dimitri Delmond, Agefi-Dow Jones; +33 (0)1 41 27 47 31; [email protected] ed: VLV
SANOFI FINANCIAL RELEASES:
http://www.sanofi.com/investors/actualites_publications/publications_financieres/publications_financieres.aspx
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April 28, 2022 01:30 ET (05:30 GMT)