Pfizer on Nov. 2 reported a third quarter profit of $866 million, a 70% drop from the same period a year ago, which the world's biggest drugmaker attributed to acquisition costs.
The company's third-quarter revenues reached $16.2 billion, a 39% increase from the year-ago quarter.
For the first nine months of 2010, Pfizer's net profit stood at $5.4 billion, 32% less than the $7.9 billion profit reported for the same period in 2009.
Pfizer is the maker of the blockbuster drugs Lipitor for cholesterol and Viagra for erectile dysfunction.
The results were "favorably impacted" by sales of products manufactured by Wyeth, a fellow pharmaceutical firm whose acquisition Pfizer completed in October last year. Profits were at the same time "negatively impacted" by expenses associated with the integration and restructuring costs of Wyeth, as well as a $701 million charge for asbestos litigation related to Pfizer's Quigley Company.
"It's been just over a year since the closing of the Wyeth acquisition," said Pfizer chief executive officer Jeff Kindler. "I am particularly pleased with the speed of the integration, the cost synergies achieved to date as well as our solid financial performance this quarter and year-to-date in this difficult economic environment."
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
