Serono Welcomes Positive Ratings From Credit Agencies
July 13 2005 - 3:54AM
PR Newswire (US)
Serono Welcomes Positive Ratings From Credit Agencies Credit
Ratings From Moody's and Standard & Poor's Confirm Underlying
Strength and Positive Business Prospects GENEVA, Switzerland, July
13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Serono (virt-x:SEO and NYSE: SRA), the
third largest biotechnology company in the world, today announced
that it had received credit ratings of A3 from Moody's and A- from
Standard & Poor's, both with a stable outlook. "These positive
credit ratings are an excellent reflection of our position in the
top tier of biotech companies and clearly demonstrate our low risk
profile," comments Stuart Grant, Chief Financial Officer, Serono.
"We've achieved this result through our sound financial management,
the underlying strength of the business and our clear strategic
direction for the company." According to both Moody's and Standard
& Poor's, these ratings reflect their confidence in the
strength of Serono's solid and focussed portfolio of biotech brands
in its major therapeutic areas. The company also demonstrated good
patent protection and limited risk from biosimilars, along with a
good track record of generating royalty and licence income. Both
agencies confirmed Serono's solid cash generation, conservative
financial guidelines, and stable majority shareholder base. Note to
Editors: Serono will report its Q2 results on 19 July 2005, 4.01pm,
Eastern Time For Serono Some of the statements in this press
release are forward looking. Such statements are inherently subject
to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that
may cause actual results, performance or achievements of Serono
S.A. and affiliates to be materially different from those expected
or anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are based on Serono's current expectations and
assumptions, which may be affected by a number of factors,
including those discussed in this press release and more fully
described in Serono's Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 16, 2005. These
factors include any failure or delay in Serono's ability to develop
new products, any failure to receive anticipated regulatory
approvals, any problems in commercializing current products as a
result of competition or other factors, our ability to obtain
reimbursement coverage for our products, the outcome of government
investigations and litigation and government regulations limiting
our ability to sell our products. Serono has no responsibility to
update the forward-looking statements contained in this press
release to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date
of this press release. About Serono Serono is a global
biotechnology leader. The Company has eight biotechnology products,
Rebif(R), Gonal-f(R), Luveris(R), Ovidrel(R)/Ovitrelle(R),
Serostim(R), Saizen(R), Zorbtive(TM) and Raptiva(R). In addition to
being the world leader in reproductive health, Serono has strong
market positions in neurology, metabolism and growth and has
recently entered the psoriasis area. The Company's research
programs are focused on growing these businesses and on
establishing new therapeutic areas, including oncology. Currently,
there are approximately 30 ongoing development projects. In 2004,
Serono achieved worldwide revenues of US$2,458.1 million, and a net
income of US$494.2 million, making it the third largest biotech
company in the world. Its products are sold in over 90 countries.
Bearer shares of Serono S.A., the holding company, are traded on
the virt-x (SEO) and its American Depositary Shares are traded on
the New York Stock Exchange (SRA). SRA US, Investor Relations, USA:
Tel: +1-781-681-2552 Fax: +1-781-681-2912 DATASOURCE: Serono
International S.A. CONTACT: For more information, please contact:
Corporate Media Relations, Tel: +41-22-739-36-00 Fax:
+41-22-739-30-85 http://www.serono.com/ Media Relations, USA: Tel:
+1-781-681-2340 Fax: +1-781-681-2935 http://www.seronousa.com/
Corporate Investor Relations: Tel: +41-22-739-36-01 Fax:
+41-22-739-30-22 Reuters: SEO.VX / SRA.N, Bloomberg: SEO VX
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