Allergan (NYSE:AGN) gained ground on earnings announced Monday.
The company posted stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings Monday and said it expects its impending $63-billion takeover by AbbVie, set to close by the end of March.
Allergan said non-GAAP earnings for the three months ending in December were pegged at $5.22 per share, up 21.7% from the same period last year and firmly ahead of the Street consensus forecast of $4.57 per share. Group revenues, the company said, rose 6.6% to $4.
Said CEO Brent Saunders, "I am proud of Allergan's colleagues who achieved many important milestones in 2019 that will make a difference to patients for years to come.
"They achieved FDA approval of UBRELVY™, a first-in-class oral treatment for migraine; two new approvals for BOTOX for pediatric spasticity; approval for VRAYLAR for bipolar depression; and filings for two new eye care drugs - Bimatoprost SR for glaucoma and Abicipar for Age-related Macular Degeneration"
AbbVie said in late June that it will pay $188.24 each in cash and shares for Allergan's outstanding common stock, a 45% premium to the group's closing price on June 24, in a deal that would value the Dublin-based group at around $63 billion.
AbbVie said the deal will add around 10% to the group's adjusted earnings in the first year, and will be incorporated in Delaware upon completion.
AGN shares picked up $1.91, or nearly 1%, to $198.96
