NEW YORK (AP) — Pfizer’s second-quarter net income more than quadrupled, helped by the sale of its animal health business.
The world’s second-largest drug company, which makes Viagra, along with the pain medicines Lyrica and Celebrex, earned $14.1 billion, or $1.98 per share. That compares with $3.25 billion, or 43 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding a gain related to the June sale of its remaining 80 percent stake in Zoetis Inc. and other one-time items, earnings were 56 cents per share, a penny better than Wall Street had expected.
The Zoetis sale is part of the company’s strategy to shed non-core businesses and focus on prescription medicines, particularly for disorders that lack exceptional treatments. Pfizer Inc. has already divested its nutrition and capsule-making businesses and on Monday, announced the reorganization of its commercial operations into three divisions.
One of those divisions will be devoted to products that are losing patent protection. Another will handle drugs with years of patent protection remaining. The third that will sell vaccines, cancer treatments, and consumer products.
Declining revenues are partly attributable to generic competition, particularly the loss of exclusivity on Lipitor in Europe.
Revenue fell 7 percent to $12.97 billion, which is just short of the $13.21 billion analysts polled by FactSet had predicted.
The New York company maintained its full-year adjusted earnings outlook of $2.10 to $2.20 per share. Analysts forecast $2.16 per share.
