First Sanofi-Aventis figures line up with forecasts

PARIS (AFP) - The newly formed pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Aventis published third-quarter sales figures showing a 10.7 percent increase over 12 months in line with expectations.
Combined sales on a comparable asset base amounted to 6.49 billion euros (8.11 billion dollars), an increase of 10.7 percent on the figure for the third quarter of last year.
Sales in the first nine months amounted to 18.77 billion euros, an increase of 10.5 percent.
Analysts had expected a third-quarter total of 6.38-6.56 billion euros.