(CercleFinance.com) – Sanofi fell heavily on the stock market this Friday, the announcement of a plan to split the consumer health business being obscured by a warning for the 2024 and 2025 financial years.
On the occasion of the publication of its third quarter results, which came out below expectations, the pharmaceutical group confirmed its objectives for 2023 and delivered preliminary outlooks for 2024 and 2025.
If the laboratory reiterated its forecast of activity EPS growth in the mid-single digit range at constant exchange rates for 2023, its medium-term objectives turn out to be much more disappointing.
Due to the increase in its R&D investments, Sanofi says it expects its 2024 business EPS to remain ‘roughly stable’ compared to 2023 levels, excluding the impact of the expected increase in its tax rate.
Taking into account the increase in the tax rate, the group declares that it anticipates a decline ‘in the low single digit range’ of its EPS compared to 2023.
Another disappointment, Sanofi says it has abandoned its objective of an operating margin of 32% by 2025, while ensuring that it remains attentive to its profitability in the long term.
‘The only real good news, likely to be well received by the markets, is the announcement of its intention to separate its consumer health activity at the end of 2024 via the creation of an entity listed on the stock exchange’, comment this morning Stifel analysts.
Following the creation in 2019 of a dedicated autonomous global commercial entity, this division has indeed become – according to Sanofi – ‘a leading company present’ in 150 countries with more than 11,000 employees.
‘We expected this to happen at one point or another, but certainly not by the end of next year’, react the Stifel teams.
On the Paris Stock Exchange, it was the impact linked to the warning which prevailed this morning, with analysts preparing to lower their estimates on the group after the details provided in the morning.
With a decline of 15%, Sanofi shares recorded by far the biggest drop in the CAC 40 index around 10:00 a.m.
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