Nightmare fourth quarter for Pfizer. The loss of the rights to some patents that have expired (above all the patent of the drug Lipitor, for the treatment of cholesterol) weighed on the accounts of the US pharmaceutical giant (producer, among other things, of Viagra), which saw drop its profits by 50% over the same period a year earlier (1,44 billion dollars and 19 cents per share, against 2,89 billion and 36 cents per share in 2010), also due to a tax adjustment on payments relating to the previous year.
The decline was smaller than expected by the financial community, but the company has nonetheless lowered the estimates for 2012, also to take into account unfavorable exchange rates. The forecast for earnings per share has moved from 2,25-2,35 dollars to a range between 2,20 and 2,30, while that for revenues is between 60,5 and 62,5 billion dollars, against the previous estimate of between 62,2 and 64,7 billion dollars.
Turnover in the fourth quarter, on the other hand, fell by 3,5 percent to $16,74 billion, while for the full year 2011 grew 1% to $67,42 billion. For the full year, Pfizer reported earnings of $10 billion, $1,27 per share, up 21 percent from last year's $8,25 billion, $1,02 per share.
