Sanofi reported a drop in fourth-quarter earnings, but said net sales were higher on a constant exchange rate basis.
The French drugmaker posted business net income of about €1.33 billion in the fourth quarter, down 10.8% year over year on a constant exchange rate basis.
The business EPS for the three months was down 8.8% from the year-ago period at €1.06 per share.
The S&P Capital IQ consensus normalized EPS estimate for the fourth quarter was €1.14.
The company booked IFRS net sales of about €8.69 billion during the fourth quarter, up 4.1% on a constant exchange rate basis but down 2% on a reported basis, from the previous year.
The fourth-quarter net sales reflect the strong launch of its allergy treatment Dupixent and the anticipated declines in the U.S. diabetes market and for the kidney disease medication Renagel.
The Paris-headquartered company's fourth-quarter diabetes franchise and Renagel sales dropped 15.6% and 28.5%, respectively, from the year-ago period — both on a constant exchange rate basis.
Full-year 2017 business net income came in at about €6.96 billion, or €5.54 per share, down 2.6% and 0.4%, respectively, from 2016.
Meanwhile, full-year 2017 IFRS net sales rose 5.6% from 2016 at about €35.6 billion.
The company expects its full-year 2018 business EPS to grow between 2% and 5%, taking into account expected contributions from recent acquisitions.
Sanofi Genzyme and Sanofi Pasteur sales were up 16.8% and 1.2%, respectively, from the year-ago period.
Meanwhile, the French drugmaker's diabetes and cardiovascular units' full-year 2017 sales fell 14.3% compared to 2016.
The company booked research and development expenses of about €1.46 billion for the quarter, up 6.3% from the previous year.
