Disappointing first-half FY 2011/12 results from Japanese drugmakers

There was a slew of financial results for the first half of fiscal year 2011 (to September 30, 2011) from Japanese drug majors, mostly showing sales and earnings declines for the reporting period.

Daiichi Sankyo (TYO: 4568), Japan’s second-largest pharma firm, reported an 8.6% decline in revenues to 456,042 million yen ($6.02 billion), with operating profit falling 31% to 62,192 million yen. Current profit declined 28.4% to 66,345 million yen and net income decreased 29% to 37,045 million yen, or 52.63 yen per share, missing the 40.8 billion yen average of three estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The company forecast that revenue will decline 3.9% to 930 billion yen ($11.7 billion) in the year ending March 2012, below a July forecast of 970 billion yen.