Pfizer, Inc, a world leader in the pharma segment, has reported significant higher growth in top line as well as bottom line during the fourth quarter ended December 2009 with acquisition and integration of Wyeth. The company's net profit went up by 188 per cent to US$ 767 million from US$ 266 million in the corresponding period of last year. This is mainly on account of tax benefits in the current period of US$ 755 million as against tax expenditure of US$ 394 million in the last period. The earnings before tax adjustments declined sharply to US$ 4 million from US$ 625 million in the similar quarter of 2008.
Its revenues increased by 34 per cent to US$ 16,537 million from US$ 12,346 million in the similar period of last year. With acquisition of Wyeth during the fourth quarter, Pfizer's revenues increased by 27 per cent or by US$ 3.3 billion. Its US sales increased by 42 per cent to US$ 7.4 billion compared with the year-ago quarter. Its international revenues moved up by 28 per cent to US$ 9.1 billion. US revenues represented 45 per cent compared with 42 per cent of the total, while international revenues represented 55 per cent compared with 58 per cent of the total in fourth-quarter of 2008.
Since the close of the Wyeth acquisition, Pfizer has operated two distinct commercial organizations viz., Biopharmaceutical and diversified. biopharmaceutical includes the primary care, specialty care, established products, emerging markets and oncology customer-focused units, while diversified includes animal health, consumer healthcare, capsugel and nutrition. The biopharmaceutical division achieved revenues growth of 30 per cent during fourth quarter of 2009 to US$ 14,606 million as compared to 11,241 million. The revenues of Specialty Care segment went up sharply by 84 per cent to US$ 2,934 million from US$ 1,595 million and that of Established products increased by 57 per cent to US$ 2,749 million from US$ 1,749 million.
Jeff Kindler, chairman and CEO, said, "During the fourth quarter, we closed the Wyeth acquisition and immediately began the integration of our operations, advancing the transformation of the company. We are pleased with the rapid pace of the integration and our ability to quickly realize the benefits of our combined organization. Our results this quarter clearly demonstrate the ability of our colleagues to remain focused and deliver solid operational performance."
For the full year ended December 2009, Pfizer's revenues increased only by 4 per cent to US$ 50,009 million from US$ 48,296 million and its net profit moved up by 6.7 per cent to US$ 8,635 million from US$ 8,104 million. Its earnings before tax adjustments moved up by 12 per cent to US$ 10,827 million from US$ 9,694 million. Its US sales increased by 6.6 per cent to US$ 22,749 million from US$ 20,401 million and that in international market increased marginally by 1.3 per cent to US$ 28,260 million from US$ 27,895 million.
The sales of Lipitor declined by 8 per cent to US$ 11,434 million during the year ended December 2009 from US$ 12,401 million in the previous year. The revenues from major products like Celebrex , Norvasc Viagra and Detrol/Detrol La declined by 4 per cent, 12 per cent, 2 per cent, 5 per cent respectively to US$ 2,383 million, US$ 1,973 million, US$ 1,892 million and US$ 1,154 million respectively during 2009.
The company projected its revenues at US$ 67 to US$ 69 billion in 2010 with adjusted diluted EPS of US$ 2.10 to US$ 2.20. Pfizer has also provided revenue projection of US$ 66 to US$ 68.5 billion for 2012 after divestitures of animal health assets, the shift in revenues for human immunodeficiency virus product to the joint venture with GlaxoSmithKline plc and the elimination of Relistor revenues due to Wyeth's return of its rights to the licensor.
Frank D'Amelio, chief financial officer, said, "Our 2010 financial guidance and 2012 financial targets balance the achievement of our projected cost reductions, includ8ng from the integration of Wyeth, with the expected increased investment to drive longer-term, top and bottom line performance. These goals reflect our continued confidence in the business and our ability to capitalize on near-to mid-term growth opportunities through a meaningful reallocation of investment. Additionally, our 2012 targets assume a modest level of planned business development activities."