Shares of Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK 0.39%) were trading 3% higher Tuesday after the company reported a jump in revenue and core operating profit in its fiscal third quarter, reflecting its acquisition of Shire in January 2019, and raised its profit guidance for the year. Revenue was up 83% to 2,520 billion Japanese yen, or $23.0 billion. Excluding the acquisition, revenue declined by 1.2%. Earnings per share were 27 yen or $0.25, up from a loss of 183 yen ($1.67) in the period a year ago.
Takeda operates in five segments, and management reported sales gains in four of them, led by gastroenterology with 10% growth. That's now the company's largest business, accounting for 21% of sales. The rare disease segment, which provided 20% of sales, was the sole decliner -- a sales drop of 11% that was attributed to intensifying competition. Sales of drugs outside the company's core areas also fell 12%, but the management is expecting to divest $10 billion of non-core assets, and is only about halfway through that plan.
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Investors were pleased to hear management say that cost savings from the Shire acquisition are being realized more quickly than expected, after what has thus far been a cool reception from the markets to the $62 billion deal. Takeda now expects to book an operating profit of $91 million for the year; three months ago, it was forecasting a $1 billion loss.
At a market capitalization of $63 billion, Takeda is one of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies, but because it first listed its American Depositary Shares on the New York Stock Exchange just over a year ago, this high-yielding stock remains relatively unknown to investors in the U.S.
