The financial statements that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) will release on Tuesday will cover the first year following the acquisition of Barr Pharmaceuticals, but as usual, investors will be looking ahead, and less at past results. Moreover, when Teva published its strategic plan for the next five years, it compared its targets for 2015 to the figures for 2009, which means no surprises are likely in the annual results.
Market expectations are for revenue of $3.81 billion and earnings per share of $0.95 for the fourth quarter. Analysts expect to be updated on financial forecasts and drug launches expected in 2010.
Psagot research manager Limor Gruber points out that, apart from the contribution from Barr, Teva’s sources of growth continue to be its original products, headed by MS treatment Copaxone. According to Gruber, there were more product launches in the fourth quarter than in the third. She also believes that Teva will continue to be strong in the US, because of problems discovered by the US Food and Drug Administration in the competitors production facilities.
Aviran Revivo of Clal Finance expects a good report, but mentions the $315 million provision Teva announced against a lawsuit claiming that the company inflated prices in the US. He says the provision closes an episode that has weighed on Teva for a decade.
Natalie Gottlieb of IBI believes Teva’s financial statements will be very good, with the drugs Prevacid, Allegra, and Pulmicort, which Teva launched in the fourth quarter, expected to contribute both on the revenue line and in high profit margins. Gottlieb adds that 2010 is expected to be a very good year for Teva, with important generic launches coming during the year. In the longer term, she identifies several threats, among them greater competition in generics, and expected competition for Copaxone.
Citi Investment Research analyst John Boris also expects a good quarter, the main growth engine being generic launches, some of which were exclusive to Teva. He estimates that the Plan B One-Step drug that Teva launched last summer and which is intended to prevent unplanned pregnancy with a single pill, had sales of $22 million in the fourth quarter. The company sees women’s healthcare, a field it entered with the acquisition of Barr, as an important growth engine.
Teva, managed by Shlomo Yanai, is traded in New York and Tel Aviv, with a market cap of some $51.9 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 14, 2010
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2009