Amgen to Build New $300M Facility After Tax Changes
When Amgen released its fourth-quarter financials yesterday, much of the focus was on the company’s cash availability of close to $70 billion. Another part of the story is Amgen expects to build a new manufacturing facility that will employ 300 people.
The company plans to invest $3.5 billion in capital expenditures over the next five years. About 75 percent will be in the U.S., up from about 50 percent in the preceding years. Part of the investment is $300 million for a new drug manufacturing site in the U.S. It is expected to add 220 jobs to the local economy and employ up to 300 full-time employees.
The plan is expected to manufacture products for both domestic and foreign markets, and have the capacity to manufacture complex biologic therapeutics.
Total revenues for the year were down about 1 percent to $22.8 billion. They dropped for the quarter about 3 percent compared to the same period in 2016, to about $5.8 billion. On the other hand, free cash flow for the full year grew 9 percent to $105 billion, affected by higher operating income and changes in working capital. Year-end totals for cash and investments was $41.7 billion.
Changes in the tax code, including lower rates for repatriated funds, as well as the company’s projected $3 billion in free cash flow projected for the year, gives Amgen about $70 billion in cash to play with. Some of it will likely be involved in mergers and acquisitions.
No details about M&A were mentioned at the quarterly conference call, but Amgen did say that in addition to the new factory, another $300 million will go into Amgen Ventures, its venture capital fund. This fund invests in early-stage biotechnology companies in the U.S. It has also added $10 billion under an existing share buyback program, which had $4.4 billion still intact under its current buyback program at the end of 2017.
Most investors and analysts were shocked when Chicago-based AbbVie recently reported that its tax rate for 2018 will be 9 percent. Amgen’s projected 2018 adjusted tax rate is 14 to 15 percent, significantly lower than politicians projected most companies would pay after the tax reform plan took effect. Other big drug companies have announced rates of approximately 17 or 18 percent, which is still lower than the 20 to 21 percent rate the GOP sold. This doesn’t bode well for the U.S. budget deficit. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office indicated that, due to the new tax legislation, the deficit is growing faster than expected already.
Reuters notes, “For 2018, Amgen forecast adjusted earnings per share of $12.60 to $13.70 and revenue of $21.8 billion to $22.8 billion. Analysts were looking for $12.71 per share and $22.8 billion in revenue. Wider-than-usual forecast ranges were due in part to uncertainty over Sensipar, a secondary hyperparathyroidism drug that could lose patent protection as early as March, chief financial officer David Meline said.”
Eric Schmidt, an analyst with Cowen and Co., said, “We’re all waiting for them to do at least a modest-size deal. They need another product or two.”