Sanofi has posted satisfactory performance during the fourth quarter ended December 2014 on account of new launches. The net earnings increased by 26.3 per cent to €1,339 million from €1,060 million in the corresponding period of last year. Its net sale moved up by 7.3 per cent to €9,072 million from €8,457 million. EPS worked out to €1.02 from €0.80 in the last period.
The sales of growth platforms increased by 10.3 per cent to €7,001 million driven by the performance of diabetes, vaccines, Genzyme and animal health. Diabetes sales improved by 11 per cent to €2,024 million ad that of vaccines moved up by 16.2 per cent to €1,177 million. Genzyme sales up by 22.2 per cent to €746 million. Emerging market sales improved by 7.9 per cent to €3,126 million.
Its pharmaceutical sales in fourth quarter increased by 2.6 per cent to €7,388 million, driven by the US and emerging markets. Lantus sales increased by 10.8 per cent to €1,772 million due to higher sales in US. Amaryl sales were €91 million. Plalvix sale increased by 1.6 per cent to €500 million and that of Lovenox declined by 0.5 per cent to €436 million. R&D expenditure increased to €1,351 million from €1,246 million.
Serge Weinberg, CEO, said, “We are pleased with our solid performance in 2014. The Group delivered strong financial results and we made significant progress in bringing new medicines to market. In 2015, our focus is on operational excellence as we launch multiple new medicines and vaccines. We will also invest in our R&D projects to maximize their potential. The combination of our innovative pipeline and sustainable, diversified businesses provides a strong foundation to create long-term shareholder value.”
For the full year ended December 2014, Sanofi's net sales increased by 2.5 per cent to €33,770 million from €32,951 million in the previous year. Its net profit went up by 18.1 per cent to €4,390 million from €3,716 million. Its R&D expenditure increased by 1.1 per cent to €4,824 million reflecting higher spend in monoclonal antibodies development programs and phase IV studies in rare diseases and multiple sclerosis. In 2014, the ratio of R&D to net sales was 0.2 percentage points lower at 14.3 compared with 2013. With higher profits, EPS improved to €3.34 from €2.81 in the last year.
The sales from growth platforms, including diabetes, vaccines, consumer healthcare, Genzyme animal health and other innovative products, increased by 10.7 per cent to €25,802 million. Diabetes sales went up by 12.1 per cent to €7,273 million. Vaccines sales increased by 7.2 per cent to €3,974 and Genzyme sales surged by 24.3 per cent to €2,604 million. Pharmaceutical sales grew by 4.4 per cent to €27,720 million. Lantus sales increased by 12.1 per cent to €6,344 million and that of Plavix moved up by 4.7 per cent to €1,862 million. Similarly Lovenox sales grew by 2.1 per cent to €1,699 million. However, sales of Aprovel/Avapro went down by 16.6 per cent to €727 million.
The company's sales in US increased by 8.1 per cent to €11,339 million and that in emerging markets moved up by 9.3 per cent to €11,347 million. Its sales in Europe remained flat at €7,865 million and its sales in RoW declined by 7.2 per cent to €3,219 due to lower sales in Japan by 8.6 per cent to €2,119 million.