Sanofi said on Friday it aimed to grow earnings per share this year after it posted stronger-than-expected results in the fourth quarter, and the drugmaker hiked its cost cutting target as part of a bid to boost margins.
The French company, which stunned investors last year with the delay of a Covid-19 vaccine candidate, confirmed an operating income margin target of 30 per cent for 2022 and set itself a goal to improve it to more than 32 per cent three years later. It stood at 27.1 per cent in 2020.
Sanofi, which is cutting just under 1,700 jobs in Europe, raised a late 2019 goal of generating €2 billion in savings by 2022 by €500 million. The company is hosting a virtual investor day later on Friday that will largely focus on upcoming drugs. Last month Sanofi said it will produce millions of doses of BioNTech SE and Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine in an unusual collaboration to speed vaccination efforts.
Sanofi’s earnings per share in the fourth quarter were up 9.8 per cent at constant exchange rates to €1.22. Total sales rose 4.2 per cent to €9.4 billion thanks to another strong revenue increase of its eczema treatment Dupixent and what it described as a “record demand” for its influenza vaccines.
Analysts polled by Refinitiv were expecting quarterly earnings per share of €1.16 and sales of €9.6 billion. – Reuters
