Scott Olson
Pfizer Inc. cut its sales forecast for 2012, the first full year its $10-billion (U.S.)-a-year Lipitor cholesterol fighter faces cheaper U.S. generics, but slashed its research budget to keep its profit view intact that year.
The world's biggest drugmaker said it had earned $2.89-billion, or 36 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $767-million, or 10 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding special items, Pfizer earned 47 cents per share, beating the analysts' average forecast of 46 cents.
Quarterly revenue rose 6 per cent to $17.56-billion, topping Wall Street expectations of $16.96-billion. It would have risen 7 per cent if not for negative foreign exchange factors.
Global sales of prescription drugs rose 3 per cent to $15.1-billion. Revenue in emerging markets, where the company is pinning its hopes for earnings growth, rose 25 per cent to $2.37-billion, a marked improvement from flat sales in the third quarter.
Pfizer said it still expected 2012 earnings, excluding special items, of $2.25 to $2.35 per share. But the company said it now expected revenue that year of $63-billion to $65.5-billion, compared with its earlier view of $65.2-billion to $67.7-billion.
Moreover, Pfizer said its preserved 2012 earnings forecast hinged in part on a cut in its research and development spending, to between $6.5-billion and $7-billion, from its previous target of $8-billion to $8.5-billion.
"Driving this decline is the planned reduction in the number of disease areas the company will focus on," Pfizer said in a release. The company noted it would leave its research site in Sandwich, England, but enhance its operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Shares of Pfizer were up 1.8 per cent at $18.55 in pre-market trading.