Teva Racks Up Profits, Better Than Forecasts

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries was riding high on Thursday, reporting higher revenue and profits than analysts had forecast, Globes reported.

The company outperformed the analysts’ earnings per share consensus by $0.01, but missed the revenue consensus by $110 million.

Revenue rose 2% to $5 billion for the first quarter from $4.9 billion for the corresponding quarter of 2013. GAAP-based net profit rose 18% to $744 million ($0.87 per share) for the first quarter from $630 million for the corresponding quarter, and non-GAAP net profit rose 8% to $1.04 billion ($1.22 per share) from $960 million.

First quarter global Copaxone sales were 1% higher than in the corresponding quarter: 1% growth in U.S. sales to $816 million, following a price hike in January, offsetting a 2% drop in non U.S. sales to $254 million, due to the timing of tenders in Russia which took place in the first quarter of 2013 but not in the first quarter of 2014, and was partially offset by higher sales in Europe.

Teva president and CEO Erez Vigodman said, “We are intensely focused on solidifying the foundation of Teva, maintaining the Copaxone franchise, driving sustainable organic growth, and positioning Teva for long-term value creation. During 2014, we will deliver significant savings as part of our cost reduction program, accelerate the transformation of our operations network, strengthen our global leadership in generics and continue to increase confidence in Teva.”

Also on Thursday, Teva announced it will be converting four of its Israeli factories to natural gas, in partnership with Delek Israel Fuel Corp., The Jerusalem Post reported.

The factories affected are located in Ramat Hovav, Ashdod, Kfar Saba and Netanya.

The three-year agreement with Delek will enable Teva to save millions of dollars annually by switching to natural gas from expensive, polluting fuel oil and liquefied petroleum gas.

This article appeared in print on page 7 of the May 2nd, 2014 edition of Hamodia.