Israel

Teva Pharm Raises 2018 Profit Outlook, Sees Strong Migraine Drug Launch

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries raised its 2018 earnings outlook, said it was seeing “a very strong launch” for its long-awaited migraine treatment Ajovy and expects to launch generic EpiPen in the fourth quarter. Teva raised its full-year forecast for adjusted EPS to $2.80-$2.95, from a previous estimate of $2.55-$2.80 and its shares were 8.5 percent higher in early U.S. trading, Reuters reported. The company also said it was on track with plans to reduce its workforce by 14,000, having let over 9,000 employees go so far. Net debt decreased by $800 million to $27.6 billion.

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As Parent Company Heads To Liquidation, Control Struggle at Israel’s Biggest Telco Continues

On Sunday, a Tel Aviv district court judge ordered the liquidation of Eurocom Communications Ltd., the communication arm of Israel-based Eurocom Group, and ordered its real estate arm into receivership, CTech reported. Eurocom's most attractive asset is Bezeq, Israel's biggest telecommunication provider and a monopoly in the country, which it holds through subsidiaries. Attempts to sell Eurocom were stymied due to shareholders opposition in Bezeq. The directives will take effect on May 3rd. The judge did not approve Eurocom's creditor arrangements.
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Israeli Unions Warn Teva Pharm Over Plan to Close Ashdod Plant

Israel's main labor federation intends to take labor or legal action against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries if the drugmaker does not suspend a decision to close a plant in the Israeli port city of Ashdod, it said on Sunday. Debt-laden Teva, the world's largest generic drugmaker and Israel's biggest company, said last week that it would close the unprofitable plant in March 2019 after failing to find a buyer for the facility, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.
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‘Nobody Thought It Would Come to This’: Drug Maker Teva Faces a Crisis

Management missteps and tectonic shifts in the pharmaceutical business have battered Teva, which faces declining prices for generic drugs and the loss of a patent on a major branded drug, the New York Times reported. More than $20 billion has been shorn from the company’s market capitalization since 2017 began, cutting Teva’s value roughly in half. Everyone in Israel knew that layoffs and plant closings were coming, but what was expected was something akin to painful trims. Instead, on Dec. 14, Teva announced what amounted to an amputation.
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Israel Regulator Seeks to Ban Bitcoin Firms from Stock Exchange

Israel’s markets regulator will propose regulation to ban companies based on bitcoin and other digital currencies from trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Reuters reported. Shmuel Hauser, the chairman of the Israel Securities Authority (ISA), told the Calcalist business conference he will bring the proposal to the ISA board next week. If approved, it would be subject to a public hearing and then the stock exchange bylaws would need to be amended. “If we have a company that their main business is digital currencies we would not allow it.
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Israeli Banks Take Telecoms Tycoon Elovitch to Bankruptcy Court

Three Israeli banks asked a court Wednesday to break up Eurocom Communications Ltd., saying it’s insolvent, Bloomberg News reported. The company is part of Shaul Elovitch’s Eurocom Group Ltd., the controlling shareholder of Israel’s largest telecommunications firm. Bank Hapoalim Ltd., Israel Discount Bank Ltd. and First International Bank of Israel Ltd. told Tel Aviv District Court that Eurocom Communications owes them 961 million shekels ($275 million), and asked the court to appoint lawyers to oversee the sale of assets pledged against the loans.
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Netanyahu Vows to Help Buffer Teva Workers From Turnaround Plan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government will do its utmost to blunt the impact of job cuts at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. as the debt-saddled company carries out its restructuring plan, Bloomberg News reported. Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon will meet this week with Teva Chief Executive Officer Kare Schultz to try to “minimize the blow to workers,” according to an e-mailed statement from the prime minister’s office.
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Africa Israel's Auditors Warn Of Doubts Over Its Future

Israeli property developer Africa Israel Investments may struggle to stay in business, its auditors warned on Tuesday, after its Russia-focused subsidiary AFI Development continued to be hit by the weak Russian economy, Reuters reported. "Various factors raise substantial doubt about the continued existence of the company as a going concern," auditors Deloitte and KPMG said in a statement as Africa Israel reported a 163.3 million shekel ($43 million) loss in the second quarter, against a 179 million shekel loss a year earlier.
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Historic Zim Lines Result After Debt Restructure Points The Way For HMM's Battered Creditors

Israeli container shipping line Zim last week delivered some of the best results in liner industry, reporting a net profit of $7m for 2015, recovering from a $198m net loss in 2014, The Loadstar reported. The overall improved profitability was almost entirely the result of reduced costs, following its debt restructuring in 2014, which saw lenders and charterers given equity in return for renegotiated terms, and is similar to Hyundai’s current proposals.
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