Holey water

14 December 2017 By Robert Cyran Follow @rob_cyran

The drugmaker is suspending its dividend and cutting 25 pct of its workers to try to stop a debt-laden 2015 deal sinking the company. But most of the savings will probably be eaten up by shrinking sales for its blockbuster drug and falling prices for other generic medicines.

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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries said on Dec. 14 that it is suspending its dividend and would fire over 25 percent of its workforce in order to cut $3 billion of costs by the end of 2019. The Israeli company expects costs to be $16.1 billion this year.

Israel’s main labor federation threatened to hold a half-day general strike on Sunday to protest the layoffs.

Teva is attempting to reduce costs after its $40.5 billion acquisition of Allergan's generic-drug unit in 2015 left it with about $35 billion of debt.

Teva’s shares have lost about 60 percent of their value in the past year.

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