Teva to shutter operations in 45 countries after feeble second quarter results

Amid high volumes of trading, shares in Israeli generics giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE: TEVA) have fallen almost a fifth in New York this morning, as the company revealed disappointing quarterly results.

The company made a net loss of $6 billion, equivalent to $5.94 per share following generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), compared to a profit of $188 million in the same period last year.

The loss is mainly due to weak performance at the former generics arm of Allergan, a recent Teva acquisition, leading to a $6.1 billion impairment charge. When the ‘goodwill’ cost of an investment fails to materialize, it is regarded as good financial practice to book this as a write off, for the sake of transparency.