An Amgen sign is seen at the company's office in South San Francisco, California October 21, 2013. REUTERS/Robert Galbraithon Wednesday said the U.S. Internal Revenue Service is seeking additional back taxes of $5.1 billion, plus interest and penalties, related to the drugmaker's 2013 to 2015 accounting for profits between the United States and Puerto Rico, the location of most of its manufacturing operations.
The company's quarterly financial results held "no major surprises," but the tax dispute is "notable," Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said in a research note. "So we're now into $12 billion plus of disputes and the 2016-2018 period is also now being audited," he said.
He said U.S. corporate tax law changes made in 2017 greatly reduced the gap between U.S. and Puerto Rico rates."Any additional tax that could be imposed for the 2010-2015 period would be reduced by up to approximately $3.1 billion of repatriation tax previously accrued with respect to the company's Puerto Rico earnings," it said in a statement.
Amgen said its first-quarter revenue rose 6% to $6.2 billion as product sales increased 2%, and it posted higher revenue from an agreement to manufacture COVID treatments sold by Eli Lilly and CoAdjusted earnings for the quarter were up 15% from a year earlier to $4.25 per share, driven by higher revenue and share repurchases, beating the average analysts' estimate by 16 cents, according to Refinitiv.