By Puyaan Singh (Reuters) -Viatris on Thursday beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter results, driven by strong demand for its branded drugs in China and emerging markets, and raised its forecasts for 2025 profit and revenue. Finance chief Doretta Mistras attributed the forecast raise primarily to foreign exchange benefits and share repurchases. However, shares of […]
Health
Viagra-maker Viatris beats quarterly estimates on strong demand for branded drugs
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By Puyaan Singh
(Reuters) -Viatris on Thursday beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter results, driven by strong demand for its branded drugs in China and emerging markets, and raised its forecasts for 2025 profit and revenue.
Finance chief Doretta Mistras attributed the forecast raise primarily to foreign exchange benefits and share repurchases. However, shares of the company were down 5.4%.
“The full remediation of (the company’s) Indore facility… is still weighing on the stock as investors await to see how quickly Viatris can bounce back once this is behind them,” said Morningstar analyst Keonhee Kim.
Revenue from its generic drugs business, which fell 5% to $1.31 billion, continued to be hurt by the restriction placed by the U.S. drug regulator in December last year on imports of certain products made at the facility in Indore, India, following violation of federal requirements.
Viatris CEO Scott Smith said remediation activities substantially were complete and the company recently met with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to discuss progress and potential timing for reinspection.
Smith also said the company is evaluating “M&A opportunities, particularly in the US, focused on commercial stage accretive transactions… to further enhance the company’s long term growth profile.”
The company — formed after merger of Mylan and Pfizer’s Upjohn business in 2020 — reported revenue of $3.76 billion for the third quarter, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $3.61 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
It posted an adjusted profit of 67 cents per share, beating analysts’ average estimate of 62 cents.
Viatris now expects full-year profit between $2.25 and $2.35 per share, up from its prior view of $2.16 to $2.30 per share.
The company also said that its ongoing review, launched in February, flagged opportunities for cutting costs across research and development and supply chain, among other functions.
(Reporting by Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed and Shailesh Kuber)