Teva Pharmaceutical Third-Quarter Net May Rise 15%: Week Ahead

By David Rosenberg

Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., the world's biggest maker of generic drugs, will probably say this week that third-quarter earnings rose 15 percent on sales of new products and its proprietary Copaxone drug.

Teva, which is also the biggest Tel Aviv Stock Exchange- traded company by market value, will post adjusted net income of $604 million, or 71 cents a share, up from $525 million, or 64 cents, a year earlier, according to the median estimate of 12 analysts polled by Bloomberg.

Revenue will climb about 24 percent to $2.93 billion from $2.37 billion in the same period in 2007, according to the survey. Teva is paying $7.5 billion for Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. of the U.S. to expand in eastern Europe and gain contraceptives such as Plan B, the ``morning-after pill.'' Teva and Barr report results on Nov. 6.

``U.S. generic sales grew more slowly than in Europe and the rest of the world, and there may even have been some erosion in older generics,'' Noa Weisberg, an analyst at Israel Brokerage & Investments in Tel Aviv, said by phone. ``But new generics are the name of the game, and Teva has most of the biggest selling products. Together with Barr, its pipeline will be even bigger.''

Teva said Oct. 27 that it expects to complete takeover of Barr, of Montvale, New Jersey, by the end of this year. The U.S. now accounts for about 57 percent of sales for Teva, which is based in Petah Tikva, Israel.

Sales of Copaxone, the company's multiple sclerosis treatment, probably grew 28 percent in the U.S., said Weisberg, who rates the stock a ``buy'' and estimates its U.S.-traded shares will reach $55 in the next 12 months.

Since it ended a joint marketing agreement with Sanofi- Aventis SA in the first quarter, Teva has been capturing 100 percent of all profit on Copaxone sales instead of sharing it equally with the French company, she said.

Markets Last Week

Last week in Israel, the benchmark 6.5 percent Shahar bond due in January 2016 declined, with the yield rising 55 basis points to 6.08 percent. The shekel weakened 1.8 percent as of Oct. 23 to 3.7950 per dollar from 3.7270 a week earlier.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's benchmark TA-25 Index dropped 5.2 percent to 725.47. Delek Group Ltd., the energy and property holding company controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva, was the biggest decliner, losing 23 percent. Africa Israel Ltd., a real estate company controlled by Lev Leviev, declined by 22 percent.

Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister and leader of the Kadima Party, gave up her efforts to form a coalition Oct. 26 and asked President Shimon Peres to call early elections. A general election will probably take place in the first half of February.

The following is a list of important events in Israel next week:

Event                                   Date
October budget report                   2
Bank of Israel Governor briefs press    3
Alvarion third-quarter results          3
Partner third-quarter results           5
Amdocs third-quarter results            5

To contact the reporter on this story: David Rosenberg in Jerusalem at drosenberg1@bloomberg.net