Sales surge pushes Botox maker Allergan to a $10bn share buyback
Dublin-based Botox maker Allergan has announced it will buy back $10bn (£6.2bn) of shares after swinging into a profit for its first quarter.
The announcement sent shares higher in New York, where the company is listed. Shares closed up by 5.28 per cent last night.
Allergan’s shares have dropped by 23.6 per cent in just three months.
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The buyback plan is, however, dependant on the sale of the drug developer’s generics unit to Israeli pharma giant Teva, expected to go through by the end of the year.
Alongside the announcement, Allergan reported first-quarter earnings that beat expectations, but fell short on revenue. Earnings over the past three months climbed to $186.1m, or 47 cents per share, compared with a loss of $535.2m in the first quarter of 2015. Revenue rose to $3.8bn from $2.56bn last year, compared with expectations of $3.95bn.
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Allergan, recently rocked by a failed takeover attempt by US rival Pfizer, has also had a shake up of its senior management. Bill Meury has been appointed chief commercial officer and Robert Stewart has been appointed chief operating officer.