(News Bulletin 247) – The Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche maintained its forecast for 2023 on Wednesday following a first quarter marked by a decline in sales linked to the drop in demand for Covid screening tests.
As expected, the significant drop in demand for Covid tests led to a decrease in its turnover, which fell to 15.3 billion Swiss francs in the quarter compared to 16.4 billion a year earlier, i.e. a decline. by 7%.
Expressed at constant exchange rates, quarterly sales were down 3%.
Excluding the effect related to test sales, sales would have increased by 8%, the group said in a press release.
Conversely, drug division sales were up 9% driven by strong demand for its new drugs such as Vabysmo for serious eye diseases, which is already the strongest branch growth engine.
Due to the sharp decline in sales of Covid-related products, Roche still expects consolidated sales to decline in the low-single digit range (at constant currencies).
Excluding the decline in sales of Covid-related products, Roche expects solid sales growth in the core businesses of its two divisions, pharma and diagnostics.
Core earnings per share are expected to move in line with lower sales (at constant exchange rates).
Roche is also counting on a further increase in its dividend in Swiss francs.
These performances were greeted without enthusiasm by investors on the Zurich Stock Exchange, where the title fell by around 0.8% on Tuesday in the first trade.
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