Teva Q1 revenue down but profit beats analysts

K?re Schultz  photo: Shlomi Yosef
K?re Schultz photo: Shlomi Yosef

With a slump in revenue from Copaxone and respiratory products and a fall in US generic sales, better than expected profit offers Teva investors a glimmer of hope.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) today reported results for the first quarter of 2019.

Revenue in the first quarter of 2019 was $4.295 billion, down 15% compared with the first quarter of 2018, mainly due to generic competition to Copaxone and a decline in revenue from respiratory products and US generics business.

GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders and GAAP diluted loss per share in the first quarter of 2019 were $105 million ($0.10 per share) compared with net profit of $1.055 billion ($1.03 per share) in the first quarter of 2018. Non-GAAP net profit was $654 million ($0.60 per share) compared with $954 million ($0.94 per share) in the first quarter of 2018.

Teva president and CEO Kåre Schultz said, “The second year of our two-year restructuring program got off to a promising start. We are on track to reduce our total cost base by $3 billion by the end of 2019 and we have achieved a reduction of $2.5 billion to date, while continuing to lower our debt. “

He added, “We faced the expected loss of exclusivities of key products Copaxone and ProAir to generic competition. Our focus is on stabilizing our global generics business and ensuring the success of our long-term organic growth drivers, especially Ajovy and Austedo. Both products continue to gain momentum since their initial launches and we are making the necessary investments to be able to bring them to markets outside of the U.S. as well as explore additional indications.”

Copaxone sales slumped 56% in the North America in the first quarter from $476 million to $208 million and by 26% in Europe from $153 million to $114 million. Ajovy had $20 million in sales in North America in the first quarter and Austedo saw sales rise from $30 million to $74 million - barely filling the vacuum left by Copaxone let alone respiratory products, which saw sales in North America fall from $418 million in the first quarter of 2018 to $245 million in the first quarter of 2019. Sales of generic products in North America fell 11% in the first quarter of 2019 to $966 million from $1.088 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2018.

K?re Schultz  photo: Shlomi Yosef
K?re Schultz photo: Shlomi Yosef
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