Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Sanofi-Aventis SA, France's largest pharmaceuticals company, said fourth-quarter profit rose 6.2 percent, beating analyst estimates, on a resurgence of sales from the Plavix blood-thinner and savings from job cuts.

Net income was 1.46 billion euros ($2.12 billion), or 1.09 euros a share, compared with 1.38 billion euros, or 1.02 euros, a year earlier, the Paris-based company said today. Eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg predicted profit of 1.41 billion euros for the fourth quarter.

Sanofi expects 2008 earnings per share, excluding some items, to increase 7 percent. GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Europe's largest drugmaker, forecast a profit decline this year, while Novartis AG said growth may pick up in the second half. Sanofi benefited from a recovery in Plavix after a U.S. judge ruled that Apotex Inc. couldn't continue to market cheaper imitations of the product, Sanofi's second-best seller.

``The most important point is the guidance for 2008,'' Natexis analyst Philippe Lanone, who recommends buying Sanofi shares, said in an interview. ``They do not seem to be suffering from the pessimism that has struck the rest of the industry.''

Sanofi is battling generic competition to medicines that generate more than a third of pharmaceutical sales. The French drugmaker is trying to get new products on the market before Plavix and the anti-clot treatment Lovenox lose patent protection, starting in 2011.

Rivals

U.K. rival Glaxo, also fighting cheaper generics, reported a 10 percent decline in fourth-quarter profit last week. AstraZeneca Plc, the U.K.'s second-largest drugmaker behind Glaxo, said last month fourth-quarter profit fell 12 percent.

Sanofi rose 99 cents, or 1.9 percent, to close at 52.5 euros in Paris trading. Before today, they'd declined 18 percent this year, making the company the second-worst performer on the 13- member Bloomberg Europe Pharmaceutical Index, which has declined 9 percent.

Sanofi plans to increase the dividend for last year by 18.3 percent to 2.07 euros a share.

``As far as pipeline is concerned there are no major issues and the guidance looks good,'' Lanone said. ``They have increased the dividend, which is a nice surprise.''

U.S. Plavix sales, which are booked by partner Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., rose to $1.18 billion in the quarter compared with $348 million a year earlier. Sales of Plavix attributable to Sanofi rose 13 percent to 609 million euros.

Patent Protection

The French drugmaker lost patent protection on the Ambien insomnia drug in April, which contributed to a 6 percent decline in Sanofi's fourth-quarter sales to 6.91 billion euros. Ambien sales fell 68 percent to 185 million euros in the quarter. Cancer drug Eloxatin had 2.9 percent less revenue after meeting generic competition in some markets.

``Sanofi has some opportunity to do better than their peers because 2008 will be pretty secure in terms of product erosions,'' Raymond James analyst Eric Le Berrigaud said in an interview before the results were announced. ``They have about two years to get some maturity from the R&D pipeline, so that's more time to convince investors that they can fill that gap.''

Sanofi has cut more than 3,000 sales positions in the last two years to help reduce expenses. The company has reduced its workforce by 20 percent since 2005, and last year cut its headcount in western countries by 7 percent as those markets mature and ``intervention by authorities'' increases, Hanspeter Spek, head of pharmaceutical operations, said in a meeting with analysts.

Share Buyback

The drugmaker has been shifting production and expanding sales to emerging markets such as China and Brazil. It increased employees in developing countries by 4 percent in 2007.

Sanofi said in August it plans to spend as much as 3 billion euros by mid-May on repurchasing shares. It bought back 20.4 million shares last year for 1.8 billion euros. The board may consider another buyback after the current program expires.

The company said fourth-quarter selling and general expenses declined 6.6 percent as it cut back on costs in western markets.

The French drugmaker is also seeking biotechnology takeovers to fill gaps in research and development.

Sanofi today agreed to pay Dyax Corp. as much as $500 million for rights to develop an experimental drug and use the U.S. biotechnology company's research technology.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Dyax will get $25 million in fees from Sanofi this year. Dyax will also get royalties on medicines that reach the market from the partnership.

Of 40 analysts that cover the stock, 18 recommend buying Sanofi shares and 15 have ``hold'' ratings. Seven analysts advise selling the stock, according to Bloomberg data.

To contact the reporter on this story: Trista Kelley in London at tkelley2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 12, 2008 11:48 EST