Wyeth makes a “great start” to 2006

Robert Essner, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Wyeth, has said that 2006 has seen the firm get “off to a great start”.

His statements relate to results recorded by the firm in the first quarter of this year, which has seen the pharmaceutical firm secure a worldwide net revenue of $4.8 billion ? a figure that represents a six per cent increase on the previous quarter.

However, when the impact of foreign exchange is taken into consideration, this figure increases to seven per cent.

Commenting on the figures, Mr Essner continued: “We delivered outstanding performance across our broad product portfolio and we anticipate six product franchises with sales of $1 billion or more by year-end.”

He also said that the fact that Wyeth’s operating income grew at a rate that was “significantly higher” than its revenue growth, was a feature of the firm’s performance that was “just as important” as the $1 billion sales.

Wyeth also announced last week that net income rose by 13 per cent and diluted earnings per share increased by 12 per cent when compared to the same period in 2005.

However, Kenneth Martin, chief financial officer at Wyeth, remained cautious about the future.

Speaking to Reuters, he said: “It’s only April?while we’re happy with the way the year has started, it’s too early to talk about raising our forecast for the year.”

Last week’s figures relate to the period ending March 31st.

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