Wyeth sees healthy first-quarter profits after selling stake in Amgen

Wyeth, whose hormone treatments were linked to health risks last year, said
first-quarter profit jumped 47 percent as the company sold its
stake in Amgen Inc.

Net income climbed to $1.28 billion, or 96 cents a share,
from $871.9 million, or 65 cents, in the same period of 2002, the
company said in a statement distributed by PR Newswire. Revenue
rose 1.2 percent to $3.69 billion from $3.64 billion.

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Wyeth had a gain of $558.7 million, or 42 cents a share, from
selling its remaining shares of Amgen, the world’s largest
biotechnology company. Excluding that gain, Wyeth’s profit fell 18
percent to $719.2 million, or 54 cents a share, as demand slumped
for the company’s drugs to treat symptoms of menopause.

Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Martin said in a January
conference call that first-quarter net income would be
“dramatically” lower than last year as demand dropped for the medicines, called Premarin and Prempro. Studies linked the therapies, once Wyeth’s top sellers, to heart disease and cancer.

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