Sanofi confirmed on Thursday that it is targeting a decline in earnings per share (EPS) from operations in 2024 due to the expected increase in its tax rate, following a performance in line with expectations last year.

The pharmaceutical group expects a decline "in the low single-digit range" taking this effect into account, and EPS "roughly stable" compared with 2023 excluding it.

In 2023, EPS rose by 5.4% at constant exchange rates, to 8.11 euros, in line with Sanofi's target of around 5%.

Last year, the Group benefited from the good health of its Vaccines and Specialty Medicine divisions, whose sales rose by 21.1% and 13.7% respectively in the fourth quarter.

Consumer Health Care sales rose by 8.5%, while those of the General Medicine division fell by 2.4%.

In October, Sanofi presented a plan to spin off its Consumer Healthcare business, with a view to an eventual IPO. The Group did not report any progress on this plan in its earnings release.

It had also dropped its operating margin target for 2025 due to investments in research and development, causing its share price to fall by almost 19% in a single session.

"We will continue to invest in R&D, capitalizing on artificial intelligence, and remain focused on our launch opportunities, such as Dupixent in COPD," commented Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson, quoted in the release.

In November, Sanofi had said it planned to seek US marketing approval for its best-selling anti-inflammatory, Dupixent, for the treatment of "smoker's lung", also known as COPD, after a second large-scale trial showed significant improvements in patients.

In a separate press release, Sanofi also announced on Thursday the appointment of François-Xavier Roger as CFO, replacing Jean-Baptiste Chasseloup de Chatillon.

François-Xavier Roger, who was previously CFO of Nestlé, will take up his new post on April 1. (Written by Blandine Hénault, edited by Kate Entringer)