Sanofi lifts 2024 profit forecast on strength in Dupixent, new products
Adds share movement and analyst comment in paragraph 3, background on Roche and AstraZeneca in paragraph 4
By Manas Mishra
July 25 (Reuters) -Sanofi SASY.PA on Thursday raised its full-year profit outlook after strong demand for blockbuster asthma drug Dupixent and better-than-expected sales of new launches helped its second-quarter results beat estimates.
The French drugmaker forecast 2024 earnings per share would remain stable versus 2023 levels, an improvement on its previous expectation of a low single-digit percentage fall, at constant currency exchange rates.
Peers AstraZeneca AZN.L and Roche ROG.S also lifted their profit forecasts on Thursday.
Sanofi's shares rose 2.9%. The upgraded outlook should be well-received by investors, Jefferies analyst Peter Welford said.
CFO Francois-Xavier Roger said the improved forecast reflected strength across the board, not just Dupixent but also new products such its Beyfortus shot to protect infants from a common respiratory virus.
Investors have been closely watching the new launches, after Sanofi unexpectedly abandoned its 2025 margin targets in October to account for an expected increase in research and development spending, sparking a selloff in its stock.
"We have not seen this level of top-line growth for quite some time," Roger told reporters, pointing to a 10.2% rise in overall quarterly sales, at constant exchange rates.
"This is the evidence of the fact that significant transformation of the company is working."
Sales of Dupixent, which is approved to treat conditions such as asthma and eczema, rose 29.2% to 3.30 billion euros ($3.57 billion), above the 3.18 billion euro expected on average by analysts in a company-provided poll.
The anti-inflammatory drug, on which Sanofi partners with Regeneron REGN.O, has long been a growth driver, and the company has been seeking to expand its use for other conditions. Still, Sanofi has faced shareholder concerns that it is overly reliant on Dupixent.
Quarterly sales of Beyfortus, which it sells with AstraZeneca AZN.L, totalled 18 million euros, versus expectations of 15 million euros.
The company expects sales of the drug to exceed $1 billion this year as it ramps up supply.
Sales of another new medicine, Altuviiio for treating haemophilia, were 158 million euros, above estimates of 139 million.
Business operating income, excluding one-off items, rose 3.2% to 2.81 billion euros. Sales rose to 10.75 billion. Analysts had expected profit of 2.69 billion and sales of 10.40 billion euros.
($1 = 0.9226 euros)
Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatramanm, Kirsten Donovan and Miral Fahmy
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