COPENHAGEN/LONDON (Reuters) – Novo Nordisk said on Wednesday it expects another year of double-digit growth in revenue and operating profit as the company began to ease supply restrictions of its popular weight loss drug, Wegovy.
The pharmaceutical group, which is struggling to meet strong demand for Wegovy, said it had doubled the supply of lower doses of the drug to the United States in January.
Faced with shortages, Novo Nordisk was forced last May to limit the number of American patients who could begin treatment.
Wegovy’s sales totaled 9.6 billion Danish crowns (1.29 billion euros) between October and December, a slight drop from the previous quarter but a quadrupling compared to the same period last year.
The company said it is targeting “a gradual rollout of Wegovy with capped volumes” outside the United States this year.
Novo expects sales growth of between 16% and 25% this year and an increase in operating profit of between 19% and 28%, due to the explosion in demand for Wegovy and Ozempic, a diabetes medicine containing the same active ingredient.
Analysts on average expect Novo Nordisk sales to grow 21% this year, according to LSEG data.
“We are very pleased with the strong performance in 2023, which reflects the fact that more than 40 million people are now benefiting from our innovative treatments for diabetes and obesity,” Chief Executive Officer Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said in a statement.
Fourth-quarter sales rose 37 percent from a year earlier to 65.9 billion crowns, compared with 62.3 billion predicted by analysts in an LSEG poll. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased by 57% to 26.8 billion crowns, compared to analysts’ forecasts of 24.9 billion crowns.
The results underscore Wegovy’s success and Novo Nordisk’s lead in the booming obesity drug market, even as the company faces competition from U.S. rival Eli Lilly, which has launched its own treatment Zepbound into new markets.
Novo Nordisk shares rose 1.63% on Wednesday on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. It jumped more than 48% last year, making the Danish group the largest market capitalization in Europe ahead of LVMH.
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Maggie Fick; by Stéphanie Hamel, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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