The FINANCIAL — Eli Lilly and Company on December 12 announced its 2018 financial guidance, including low-single-digit revenue growth driven by volume from recently launched pharmaceutical products.
The company also highlighted key events for the upcoming year, including continued progress on its pipeline, according to Lilly.
“Lilly is in the early stages of a growth period driven by revenue from recently launched products, including Trulicity, Taltz, Basaglar, Jardiance, Verzenio, Cyramza, Olumiant and Lartruvo. Additionally, progress on our productivity agenda is expected to further expand our operating margin,” said David A. Ricks, Lilly’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Looking to the future, the potential of our pipeline remains strong, including new medicines in development for the treatment of migraine, rheumatoid arthritis, pain, cancer and diabetes, as well as additional indications for many of our recently launched products.”
“In 2018, we are expecting continued progress towards our financial objectives. We recently announced an 8 percent increase in our dividend based on revenue and margin growth and the advancement of our pipeline,” said Joshua Smiley, senior vice president and Lilly’s incoming chief financial officer.
Smiley continued, “We are confident in our future growth prospects and have reaffirmed our expectation of least 5 percent average annual revenue growth from 2015 to 2020, on a constant currency basis. In addition, we expect operating margin as a percent of revenue to be at least 30 percent in 2020, excluding the effect of foreign exchange on international inventories sold.”
2017 Financial Guidance
Earnings per share in 2017 are being decreased to be in the range of $1.56 to $1.66 on a reported basis. This revision is primarily due to changes in estimates related to asset impairment, restructuring and other special charges.
Non-GAAP earnings per share in 2017 are still expected to be in the range of $4.15 to $4.25.
