Sanofi-Aventis beats expectations with 1st-qtr adjusted EPS rising 53%

Paris, France-headquartered Sanofi-Aventis, Europe's largest drugmaker, has beaten analysts' consensus forecasts, reporting adjusted net income of 2.17 billion euros ($2.74 billion) for the first quarter of 2006, an increase of 53.6% on the like, year-earlier period, with earnings per share growing 52.8% to 1.62 euros. Group turnover was 7.04 billion euros, a rise of 4.9% (or up 9.6% on a reported basis).

Net sales of the firm's pharmaceutical business, which were significantly affected by the introduction of generic competition to Allegra (fexofenadine) in the USA in September last year, rose 3.3% to 6.52 billion euros. Turnover of its top 15 drugs grew 7.6% to 4.27 billion euros, representing 65.4% of pharmaceutical revenues, says Sanofi-Aventis.

Its best selling drug, Lovenox (enoxaparin), the leading low molecular weight heparin on the market, rose 16.4% to 624.0 million euros, with growth driven by the extension of its use in medical prophylaxis, the firm said.