Sanofi's Stock Dips Lower Following Q4 Print

Shares of Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE: SNY) were trading lower by more than 2 percent early Tuesday morning after the company reported its fourth quarter results.

Sanofi said that it earned €1.31 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of €9.28 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn €1.24 per share on revenue of €9.07 billion.

Sanofi noted that exchange rate movements in the quarter affected had a positive effect of 3.9 percentage points on its revenue. Business net income for the quarter fell 13.5 percent at a constant exchange rate to €1.71 billion.

Sales of Lantus fell nearly 20 percent in the quarter to €1.536 billion and fell more than 10 percent for the full fiscal year to €6.390 billion.

"Today's release is negative in our view as Lantus is declining at an accelerated pace," Reuters quoted a Paris-based trader as saying. "It's probably done on purpose by Sanofi to make room for Toujeo but this has not delivered growth or profitability so far."

Sanofi Chief Executive Officer, Olivier Brandicourt, commented: "In 2015, Sanofi made meaningful progress with key launches, multiple business development activities and our efforts to simplify the organization. Entering into exclusive negotiations on a business swap with Boehringer Ingelheim would bring us leadership in CHC. This is a key first step in reshaping our portfolio. In 2016, we continue to allocate resources to our promising late-stage pipeline and the introduction of innovative medicines which will position us for accelerated future growth".