Sanofi bullish on 2nd-qtr result, despite Eloctate woes

French drugmaker Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) wrote off 1.8 billion euros ($2 billion) due to soft Eloctate (antihemophilic factor) sales in the USA, but nonetheless presented a rosy business outlook in its second quarter 2019 results statement.

Net sales came in at 8.6 billion euros, up 5.5% from the same period last year, on a reported basis. Net income increased 5.3% to 1.6 billion, yielding an earnings per share (EPS) figure of 1.31 euros, up 4.8% on a constant exchange rate (CER) basis.

The robust performance was driven by growth in the vaccines business, with sales increasing 24.7%, largely reflecting Chinese growth for Pentaxim, a five-in-one vaccine for the prevention of childhood diseases.