Schiller is to transition out of his temporary CEO duties but remain a member of Valeant’s board. Investors maintained a divided stance on the matter; the stock fell more than 10% in a single session when the company announced the medical leave.
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The news of his return is “encouraging because Pearson is a visionary who created significant value for shareholders over several years”, Morgan Stanley analyst David Risinger, who rates the shares neutral, wrote in a note to investors. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties discussed in the Company’s most recent annual or quarterly report and detailed from time to time in Valeant’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian Securities Administrators, which factors are incorporated herein by reference.
In previous statements, the company said that $58 million in 2014 revenue had been improperly booked. Among is the impact of its now-severed relationship with Philidor; decisions by drug benefit managers Express Scripts Holdings Co and CVS Health Corp to curtail coverage of expensive medicines like toenail fungus drug Jublia; a ballooning debt and the potential impact in the long term of the introduction of a generic version of its gastrointestinal drug Xifaxan. Simplex Trading now owns 3,412 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,850,000 after buying an additional 2,417 shares during the period. The drug-maker was hailed as an Enron-like fraud, and also accused of controversial accounting practices. The Ad Hoc Committee is continuing its review of the circumstances relating to those accounting matters and appropriate actions to be taken.
On Sunday night, the company canceled the Monday presentation, withdrew its financial outlook for 2016 and said its CEO had returned from a two-month medical leave attributed to severe pneumonia.
By the end of last week, the company said that Mr. Pearson was recovering. “Perhaps more importantly, we believe the fact that Pearson is returning as CEO bolster’s the credibility of the company and the board of directors given that the board publicly supported Pearson and his leadership throughout the recent public scrutiny”.
In light of Pearson’s return, Valeant is pushing back the release of its fourth-quarter results which had been scheduled for Monday.
Financial bloggers on sites such as SeekingAlpha, wsobserver.com and others, seem to have a Positive view on VRX.
Along with announcing Pearson’s return, Valeant said it has separated the roles of company chairman and CEO. But he said that rescheduling Monday’s earnings call and withdrawing 2016 guidance was a negative. However, after a string of unfortunate events the stock crashed to around $70. On Dec 15, the drugmaker announced an agreement to sell skin and eye medications through Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc at a lower price.
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Valeant shares have dropped 59% over the past year.
