It is late in the development of its vaccine, but its shareholders will still be rewarded.
The French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi will propose a higher dividend after having published this Friday a net profit increased by nearly 340% for the year 2020. This result is boosted by the sale of shares of Regeneron, the American biotech which has developed the treatment against Covid-19 used by former US President Donald Trump.
Very criticized for the delay of its anti-Covid vaccine, but also for nearly 400 job cuts in research, according to the unions, the laboratory earned 12.3 billion euros in profit in 2020. It will thus be able to propose a dividend of 3.20 euros per share, which will represent a total payment of more than 4 billion euros to its shareholders.
For the previous year, Sanofi had paid a dividend of 3.15 euros per share.
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"In view of these results, and in order to continue the transformation of the company in a complex and highly competitive external environment, the decision was taken to propose the payment of a dividend to shareholders", commented Sanofi.
"Sanofi operating in a very competitive international environment, suspending the dividend or reducing it due to the current pandemic would weaken the company, reduce its attractiveness and thus alter its ability to innovate in the long term for patients", adds- he does.
Turnover up 3.3%
The pharmaceutical giant publishes these results the day after a day of action at the call of the CGT.
Thursday, dozens of Sanofi employees, in Vitry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne) then in Paris, demonstrated against the group's strategy.
Last year, the laboratory announced 1,700 job cuts, including around a thousand in France.
According to the unions, a large part of these cuts will take place in research.
The pill goes badly as Sanofi, one of the world leaders in vaccines, has suffered a setback in the development of its main candidate vaccine against Covid-19, now expected at the end of 2021, a delay of several months on its schedule initial.
Last year, the company posted sales of 36 billion euros, up 3.3% at constant exchange rates.
The vaccines were particularly promising, at almost 6 billion euros, but not against the Covid-19.
In the context of a pandemic, it is the flu vaccines that have seen their sales jump while those of travelers have, on the contrary, fallen by more than 40%.
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Sanofi also continued to be supported by the growth of its flagship product Dupixent.
Developed in collaboration with Regeneron, this drug, used in particular in the treatment of asthma or atopic dermatitis, could eventually bring in more than 10 billion euros in sales.
