Bristol-Myers unveiled the much-anticipated results from a strategic review as it braces for generic competition for its top-selling drug, Plavix.

The clear losers are the 4,300 employees who will lose their jobs over the next few years. Bristol-Myers plans to shut down more than half of its plants and eliminate 10 percent of its workforce by 2010 in order to cut about $1.5 billion in costs. It has already started handing out pink slips.

The winners, Bristol-Myers hopes, will be its shareholders. The company raised its earnings expectations for 2008 as a result of the cutbacks. It expects earnings per share to be between $1.65 and $1.75, up from its previous forecast of $1.60 to $1.70 per share. Excluding costs related to the restructuring, it expects to earn $1.44 to $1.54 per share.

The company also raised its dividend payment by 11 percent, its first increase in five years.

"With this adjustment to earnings guidance and the dividend increase, we're sending a clear message of confidence: We expect to be able to continue to reward our shareholders for their support, well into the future," said its chief executive officer James Cornelius, who took the helm in September 2006 after the ouster of Peter Dolan.

Bristol-Myers also said it plans to divest its medical-imaging business unit and it will review strategic options for two other health-care units. It plans to continue to focus on product development for serious diseases, in both specialty areas and high-prevalence illnesses.

When its patent for the blood thinner Plavix expires in 2012, Bristol-Myers faces the loss of $3 billion in annual revenue.

Investors weren't exactly thrilled by the news, at least initially. Shares of Bristol-Myers slipped in afternoon trading.