Sanofi-Aventis’s Quarterly Profit Sinks 76% on Charge

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: February 11, 2009

Filed at 2:47 a.m. ET

PARIS (AP) -- Drug maker Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE:SNY) SA said Wednesday its fourth quarter net profit plummeted 76 percent from a year earlier due mainly to a charge taken for discontinuing two experimental cancer drugs.

Europe's third-largest pharmaceutical company behind GlaxoSmithKline PLC (NYSE:GSK) and Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) said net profit fell to euro182 million ($235 million) in the fourth quarter, from euro753 million a year earlier.

Sanofi-Aventis took a euro1.43 billion non-cash charge to account for the two drugs' discontinuation as well as settlement of a patent dispute with Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. of New Jersey.

The Paris-based company, known for its blockbuster blood thinner Plavix and anti-clotting treatment Lovenox, said that on an adjusted basis -- that is, not accounting for such charges -- its fourth quarter profit rose 13.9 percent to euro1.63 billion, or euro1.25 per share.

The company forecast growth in adjusted earnings per share of at least 7 percent this year, down from 11.2 percent in 2008.