Franco-German firm reports 51 percent profit increase on strong drug sales

Aventis gets drug boost

March 2, 2001: 5:40 a.m. ET

Franco-German firm reports 51 percent profit increase on strong drug sales

LONDON (CNN) - Franco-German firm Aventis said on Friday profit in its key Life Sciences business rose 51 percent on the back of strong drug sales.

Net profit before one-time items at the Life Sciences business climbed to

1.13 billion ($1.05 billion), or

1.44 a share, from a pro forma

745 million, or

0.96 a share, a year ago. Revenues rose 12 percent to

20.62 billion

Analysts polled by the JCF Group had forecast net profit in Life Sciences, which includes drugs and agricultural products, of

1.09 billion.

"They are showing underlying pharma sales growth now of 10.1 percent, so they are even outgrowing slightly the world pharma average (of 9 percent)," Susan Haylock, pharmaceuticals analyst at Deutsche Bank, told Reuters.

"It is remarkable for this company, which has been underperforming the industry for the last 10 years."

Aventis, formed by the merger of Germany's Hoechst and France's Rhône-Poulenc in 199, plans to sell its chemical activities and agriculture business, which has been hit by problems after the accidental emergence of its genetically modified StarLink corn in human food in the U.S

The Strasbourg-based company said its group loss, including the businesses to be sold, narrowed to

147 million compared to a pro forma loss of

1.36 billion in 1999, due to one-off restructuring costs which will not weigh in 2001.

"The merger is a success -- we have created a company that has long-term growth potential and that is not just a synergy or a margin play but one which will be based on productivity, growth and better profitability," said Finance Director Patrick Langlois.

He added the company's "goal is to achieve an average annual earnings per share growth for our future core business of 25 percent to 30 percent."

The pharma unit saw strong sales growth in its key prescription products --anti-allergy drug Allegra, breast cancer treatment Taxotere and thrombosis drug Lovenox.