It’s been fooling some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time in its efforts to keep time — but the temperamental behaviour of Cork’s most famous clock may soon be a thing of the past.

Pfizer has reported quarterly revenue well below Wall Street expectations on falling sales of generic medicines, underscoring its interest in pursuing a $106bn (€76bn) bid for rival AstraZeneca to promote new business growth.