Fitch has put DuPont's debt on a "negative outlook" -- due largely to declines in license income from Cozaar®/Hyzaar® sales (by Merck). DuPont is bringing a $2 billion debt offering to market -- thus the refresher on its Fitch ratings.
. . . .The Negative Outlook is based on the expected decline of the licensing income from DuPont's anti-hypertension drug franchise Hyzaar® and Cozaar® Key patents in the U.S. and Europe expired earlier this year. Japan will follow in December 2011. Although the company has raised its guidance for licensing income to $460 million-$480 million from $350 million-$400 million for fiscal 2010, given slower than expected penetration of the market by generic competition, the revised guidance still represents a significant fall from the more than $1 billion pre-tax licensing income generated in fiscal 2009. For 2011 and 2012, the company expects that licensing income from Hyzaar and Cozaar will fall below $100 million annually. . . .
Quite so. Not new, but true.
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