Allergan posts second consecutive quarterly miss

The drug-maker had revenues of $3.62bn, which eclipsed that of the same quarter last year, but still fell below estimates of $3.68bn from Wall Street.

Adjusted earnings per share were $3.32, while the consensus had it at $3.36.

Allergan is the maker of such drugs as Botox and Restatis eye drops.

The company also announced that it would be introducing a share buy back to the tune of $10bn, after having previously announced a similar programme worth $5bn.

The Dublin-headquartered firm has been attempting to negotiate deals to arrange its sale, after a proposed $160bn merger with Pfizer fell through in April.

Shares in Allergan were pushed 1.1% higher in pre-market trading on Wednesday, as it also initiated a dividend of 70 cents for its shareholders.