Shares of French pharmaceuticals giant Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) fell on Tuesday, underperforming its peers, after the company reported the impact recalling anti-allergy drug Allerject had in its fourth quarter.
The drug, which was voluntarily recalled last year in the US and Canada, cost the company 122mln euros from its fourth quarter sales. But, unlike Coca-Cola which was also reporting earnings this session, Sanofi was a beneficiary of a strong dollar versus the euro.
Fourth-quarter aggregate group sales declined by 1.6% during the final three months of Sanofi’s financial year.
Net sales, at actual exchange rates, rose 1.8 per cent during the quarter to 8.7bn euros as Sanofi benefitted from dollar strength but this was short of analysts’ expectations for sales of 9.38bn euros, while net income fell 75% to 334mn euros.
In New York, shares were last seen down 50 cents, or 1.28%, at US$38.71, while the S&P Healthcare sector fell 0.36% and the overall S&P500 index was down 0.77%.