SAN Sanofi

By Cecilia Butini

Sanofi SA on Friday posted higher sales for the third quarter, though net profit declined slightly, and raised its business earnings-per-share guidance for 2022, citing a good performance in vaccines and the specialty care business.

The French pharma major reported net profit of 2.08 billion euros ($2.07 billion) compared with EUR2.34 billion the year prior, missing analysts' expectations of EUR3.67 billion. Business net income--a closely-watched metric that strips off some one-off items--was EUR3.61 billion in the quarter, up from EUR2.74 billion the year prior. Business earnings per share rose 32% to EUR2.88, the company said. Sales climbed to EUR12.48 billion from EUR10.43 billion the year prior, beating analysts' expectations of EUR12.15 billion.

Sanofi said sales growth in its pharmaceuticals business was driven by the specialty care portfolio, which includes best-selling eczema drug Dupixent, sales of which increased 44.5% in the quarter.

Vaccine sales grew 23.5% in the quarter, driven by flu jabs and a rebound in travel vaccines after the pandemic, Sanofi said.

The company raised its view on business earnings per share, saying that it expects the metric to grow about 16% at constant exchange rates.

Write to Cecilia Butini at cecilia.butini@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 28, 2022 01:46 ET (05:46 GMT)

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