Takeda Sees Sales, Profit Falls for FY 2018

May 15, 2018

Tokyo- Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. said Monday that its group net profit for fiscal 2018 is projected to fall 25.6 pct from the previous year to 139 billion yen, following the expiration of the U.S. patent for its multiple myeloma drug.

Net profit in the preceding year was pushed by proceeds from the sale of a subsidiary, which is not scheduled for the current year, the leading Japanese drug maker said.

For the year through March 2019, Takeda forecast sales of 1,737 billion yen, down 1.9 pct, due to the yen's strengthening.

Christophe Weber, Takeda chief executive, explained at a press conference that, excluding one-off factors, the company's substantive profit is expected to grow between 5 pct and 10 pct.

The earnings projections do not reflect its planned acquisition of Irish industry peer Shire PLC for about 6.8 trillion yen.

The Takeda chief reiterated the view that the acquisition will help improve his firm's profitability.

For the previous year, Takeda reported a net profit of 186,886 million yen, up 62.6 pct, on sales of 1,770,531 million yen, up 2.2 pct. Jiji Press