Topic: How To Invest

I would like to know your thoughts on Sanofi-Aventis. Thank you.

Article Excerpt

Sanofi-Aventis (ADR), $29.91, symbol SNY on New York (ADRs outstanding: 2.6 billion; Market cap: $77.8 billion), is the world’s fourth-largest drug company. In August 2004, Sanofi-Synthelabo bought Aventis and became Sanofi-Aventis. Paris-based Sanofi gets 88% of its sales from pharmaceuticals. Vaccines, which it sells through subsidiary Sanofi-Pasteur, make up the other 12%. Sanofi-Pasteur makes 20 vaccines, and is the leading vaccine supplier in the U.S. Europe accounts for about 41% of Sanofi-Aventis’s sales, followed by North America (32%) and rest of the world (27%). Its major drugs include Lovenox (strokes), Plavix (blood clotting), Multaq (cardiovascular), Ambien (insomnia), Taxotere (cancer), Eloxatin (colon cancer), Lantus (diabetes), Copaxone (multiple sclerosis), Aprovel (high blood pressure) and Allegra (hay fever). Sanofi’s sales rose 8.9% in 2009, to $44 million U.S. from $40.3 million in 2008. Earnings per ADR rose 27.4%, to $3.02 U.S. from $2.37 U.S. Sales were $35.5 billion U.S. five years earlier in 2004, and earnings per ADR were $1.27. In the three months…