Synthelabo's 1st Qtr

Sales at Synthelabo of France advanced 19% in the first quarter of 1995 to 2.3 billion French francs ($475 million), or 16.2% on a comparable basis. Pharmaceutical sales grew 17% on a comparable basis to 2.1 billion francs. Sales outside of France were good, and the company noted that there was an upturn in domestic sales. Medical devices sales advanced 7.2% to 170.6 million francs.

Goldman Sachs analysts say that the strong performance highlights the positive fundamentals of the French company, which they say are leverage of strategic products, US/Japan growth, sales, general and administration cost flexibility and a focus on R&D.