Aventis buyback to fight Sanofi bid

BESIEGED drugs giant Aventis today unveiled bumper profits, disposal plans and a share buyback as it battled to persuade investors to reject a e48.5bn (£33.2bn) hostile bid by French rival Sanofi-Synthelabo.

Net profits of the Franco-German group last year, at e2.44bn, were up 17.5%, despite a 4.5% sales slide to e16.8bn.

Chairman Igor Landau said Aventis was on track to raise e1.5bn from selling non-core activities this year. He unveiled a new share buyback programme, totalling between e2bn and e3bn this year, and fresh details of the company's pipeline of drugs under development.

'Today's announcement shows how Sanofi's offer fundamentally undervalues Aventis,' he said. The offer was 'a cheap attempt to transfer their risk to our shareholders. It is very clear: they need us, we don't need them'.

Aventis has hired investment banks Rothschild, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to help it fight the predatory bid launched by Sanofi, which is only half its size by sales, on 26 January.

Landau said the group would launch four new products this year and has submitted five for approval. Ninety-four new chemical entities and vaccines are in development.

Aventis is targeting sales growth this year of 6% to 7%, and 'mid-teens' growth in earnings per share, with average sales growth of 10% to 11% in 2005-2007.