FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Novartis raised its full-year profit forecast for the third time this fiscal year on Tuesday, boosted by strong drug sales following the spinoff and the IPO of its Sandoz generic drug business earlier this month.
The Swiss pharmaceutical group said in a press release that it expects the group’s core operating profit to increase between 15% and 20% (“mid to high teens”) in 2023, after previously forecasting an increase between 10 % and 15% (“low double-digit to mid teens”).
The group’s third-quarter sales rose 12% to $11.78 billion (11.03 billion euros), excluding contributions from Sandoz, while analysts had expected $11.25 billion, according to a consensus provided by society.
This performance was notably driven by good sales of Cosentyx, a drug against psoriasis and arthritis, up 4% to $1.33 billion.
Adjusted operating profit increased 17% in the third quarter, to $4.41 billion, compared to a consensus of $4.18 billion.
(Report Ludwig Burger, Augustin Turpin, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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