Sanofi — Earnings Release 1999

Mar 23, 2000

News Details

Ad-hoc | 23 March 2000 07:06

Ad hoc-Service: Aventis S.A.

Ad-hoc announcement sent by DGAP. The sender is solely responsible for the contents of this announcement. —————————————————————————— March 23, 2000 AVENTIS ANNOUNCES PRO FORMA 1999 YEAR-END RESULTS Life Science businesses post 24 percent growth in pro forma net income before exceptionals Underlying strong performance impacted by exceptionals Strasbourg, France – Aventis today reported unaudited 1999 consolidated pro forma group sales of 20.452 billion euros (1998: 20.943 billion) and pro forma net income before exceptionals of 692 million euros (1998: 729 million).”Due to the level of exceptionals and one-time items, the strong underlying performance of our combined businesses is better reflected in the pro forma figures, which present Aventis in its current structure retroactively for 1999 and 1998,” said Patrick Langlois, Chief Financial Officer of Aventis. Compared with 1998, pro forma sales by the life science businesses – Aventis Pharma and Aventis Agriculture – increased in 1999 by 4 percent to 18.406 billion euros; net income by the life sciences businesses increased before exceptionals by 24 percent to 745 million euros. For the life science businesses pro forma earnings per share before exceptionals amounted in 1999 to 0.96 euro (1998: 0.77 euro); for the Aventis Group the corresponding earnings per share were 0.89 euro (1998: 0.93 euro). The audited statutory results for 1999 show consolidated sales for Aventis of 12.598 billion euros (1998: 13.232 billion) and a loss after taxes of 970 million euros (1998: after tax profit of 644 million). The statutory consolidated results of Aventis encompass fiscal 1999 for Rhone-Poulenc S.A. and Hoechst AG for the 15 days between the creation of Aventis on December 15 through the end of 1999. “We aim to achieve EBITDA growth of 15 percent on average over the next three years” Jürgen Dormann, Chairman of the Board of Management, summarized the goals for the year 2000: “Our top priority is to increase our profitability and realize the planned synergies. The share of sales accounted for by new and patented products is expected to increase substantially, above all in the U.S. As already announced, we are aiming to rapidly divest the remaining industrial businesses and non- core assets. We aim to achieve average EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) growth of 15 percent for Aventis over the next three years, which is expected to have a strong impact on the growth of our future EPS. And finally, we want to focus on the integration of our businesses into strong, unified entities.” Proposed dividend of 0.45 euros to be distributed on June 4, 2000 “Although our financial statements include a high level of exceptional items, we will propose to our shareholders a dividend of 0.45 euros per share,” said Patrick Langlois, Chief Financial Officer of Aventis. Together with the French tax credit, the “avoir fiscal”, amounting to 50 percent of the dividend, the gross dividend per share will be 0.675 euros. The total dividend payment, which is scheduled for June 4, 2000, will be around 351 million euros. Aventis is a world leader in life sciences. Focused on two core business areas – pharmaceuticals and agriculture – Aventis is dedicated to improving life through the discovery and development of innovative products in the fields of prescription drugs, vaccines, therapeutic proteins, crop production and protection, animal health and nutrition. The global corporate headquarters are in Strasbourg, France. More information on the 1999 financial statements of Aventis can be found on the Internet: www.aventis.com End of Message