Novartis profits increase by 2.3%
Net income at Novartis, which employs more than 500 people in Cork, rose to $1.32 billion from $1.29bn a year earlier. That’s in line with the $1.31bn forecast by 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Sales rose 19% to $6.2bn, the Basel, Switzerland-based company said in an e- mailed statement. Sales of diovan rose 35% and gleevec sales almost doubled, helping pay for higher spending on marketing, research and acquiring new products. Novartis also benefited from the depreciation of the dollar against the Swiss franc, after the company started reporting results in dollars this year.
“We’re positively surprised about the results, in particular about the sales increases of key pharmaceutical products such as gleevec and diovan,” said Denise Gugerli-Etter, an analyst at Bank Sarasin & Cie. “So far, the company delivered what it promised.” The shares gained 20 centimes, or 0.4%, to 52.20 Swiss francs as of 10.08am in Zurich. Novartis stock, which accounts for 22% of Switzerland’s benchmark index, has gained 3.9% this year.
