Teva Pharm Q3 profit rises, says war not hurting production
Business
Teva Pharm Q3 profit rises, says war not hurting production
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA.TA) reported slightly higher third-quarter profit, helped by sales of its Austedo treatment for Huntington's Disease, and said production in Israel was unaffected by the country's war with Hamas in Gaza.
The world's largest generic drugmaker said on Wednesday it earned 60 cents per diluted share excluding one-time items in the July-September quarter, up from 59 cents per share a year earlier.
Revenue rose 7% to $3.9 billion, with Austedo sales up 30% in North America to $339 million. Sales of migraine drug Ajovy rose 8% and generic medicine sales in North America were up 15%.
"Continued solid performance of Austedo, Ajovy and our generics business delivered growth across all geographies," said Chief Executive Officer Richard Francis. "Based on these strong and consistent results, we are increasing our revenue outlook for 2023 for the second consecutive quarter."
Analysts had forecast earnings of 61 cents a share ex-items for the Israel-based company on revenue of $3.72 billion, I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv Eikon showed.
For 2023, Teva raised its revenue forecast slightly to $15.1-$15.5 billion from $15.0-$15.4 billion, after 2022 revenue of $14.9 billion.
It maintained its forecast of adjusted EPS of $2.25-$2.55, versus $2.52 in 2022.
Francis noted that in the wake of the war that began on Oct. 7 after Hamas gunmen rampaged through Israeli towns, killing 1,400 and taking more than 240 hostages, "our production remains largely unaffected, and we have increased our emergency medical supplies, product donations and other supporting activities."
Teva's revenues in Israel account for about 2% of its global revenues, while production in Israel constitutes less than 8% of total global production.
Teva's Tel Aviv-listed shares were up 1.2% in afternoon trading versus declines in the broader market.
