Pfizer Inc., has registered significant growth of 25 per cent in net profit during the second quarter ended June 2012 on account of lower expenditure of raw material, R&D and selling & administrative. Its net profit went up to US$ 3,253 million from $2,610 million in the similar period of last year. Its revenues, however, declined by 9 per cent to $15,057 million from $16,485 million on account of loss of exclusivity for Lipitor in US and other markets. Lipitor sales declined by 52.9 per cent to $1,220 million from $2,591 million.
Its US revenues declined by 15 per cent to $5,722 million from $6,700 million in the corresponding quarter of last year. US revenues represented 38 per cent of total revenues in second quarter 2012 compared with 41 per cent in the year-ago quarter. Its international revenues declined by 5 per cent to $9,335 million from $9,785 million, while international revenues represented 62 per cent of total revenues compared with 59 per cent in last period. The sales of primary care unit declined by 32 per cent to $4,018 million from $5,870 million and that of specialty care unit declined by 5 per cent to $3,497 million from $3,699 million. Further, the sales of oncology unit declined by 5 per cent to $323 million from $339 million. Its established product revenue improved by 16 per cent to $2,681 million from $2,317 million.
Pfizer has reduced its R&D expenditure by 24 per cent during the second quarter to $1,699 million from $2,231 million. Its selling, informational and administrative cost also declined by 17 per cent to $3,977 million from $4,800 million.
The revenues from emerging markets increased by 7.3 per cent to $3,145 million from $2,930 million in the same period of last year primarily due to volume growth in China and Russia as a result of more targeted promotional efforts for key products, including Lipitor, Norvasc and Lyrica. Additionally, growth was driven by the timing of government purchases of Prevenar 13 in Turkey and Enbrel in Brazil compared with the year-ago quarter.
Ian Read, chairman and CEO, stated, “We delivered solid results this quarter. This performance was achieved despite the $1.8 billion, or 11 per cent, negative impact on revenues of product losses of exclusivity compared with the year-ago period, primarily Lipitor in most major markets. Worldwide revenues from many of our key medicines, including Celebrex, Enbrel, Lyrica and the Prevnar/Prevenar franchise, increased and our Emerging Markets unit generated 14 per cent operational revenue growth, driven primarily by our targeted investments in China and Russia. Overall, I am confident that Pfizer is well-positioned for long-term success given the potential of our innovative late-stage and emerging pipeline, strong operating cash flow, streamlined organization and disciplined approach to capital allocation.”
“We are committed to keeping our capital allocation priorities aligned with the best interests of our shareholders. The pending sale of our nutrition business and potential separation of our animal health business as a stand-alone public company to be named Zoetis remain on track. We anticipate filing a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission by mid-August for a potential initial public offering (IPO) of up to a 20 per cent ownership stake in Zoetis. If the IPO is successfully completed, which we are targeting for the first half of 2013, we will have a variety of options to achieve a potential full separation of Zoetis. As we continue to work toward a separation of this business, we remain open to all alternatives to maximize the after-tax return for our shareholders,” concluded Read.
Frank D’Amelio, chief financial officer, stated, “We are reaffirming our 2012 financial guidance, reflecting our solid performance year-to-date, our continued confidence in the business, our financial flexibility and the significant cost savings generated by our cost-reduction and productivity initiatives. We also continue to expect to repurchase approximately $5 billion of our common stock this year, with $3 billion repurchased through July 30.”
For the first six months ended June 2012, Pfizer's net profit improved by 4 per cent to $5,047 million from $4,832 million in the corresponding period of last year. Its revenues declined by 8 per cent to $29,942 million from $32,509 million. Lipitor sales declined by 47 per cent to $2,615 million from $4,976 million and that in US declined by 75 per cent to $679 million from $2,717 million. However, the sales of Lyrica, Enbrel, Prevnar13 and Celebrex improved during the first half of 2012.