ZURICH: Swiss drugmaker Novartis reported better-than-expected results on Tuesday, as a pre-tax gain from the sale of its shareholding in Idenix offset full copycat competition to its former best-selling blood pressure pill Diovan.
The Basel-based firm reported a 45 percent jump in third-quarter net profit to $3.24 billion, ahead of the average forecast for $2.49 billion in a Reuters poll.
The result was lifted by a $800 million pre-tax gain from the sale of its shareholding in Idenix Pharmaceuticals, which was bought by US drugmaker Merck & Co in June.
Third-quarter sales came in at $14.7 billion, up 4 percent from a year earlier, while core earnings per share (EPS) – the measure most followed by investors – rose 10 percent to $1.37.
Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast sales of $14.54 billion and core EPS of $1.31. Novartis unveiled a radical overhaul of its business in April, strengthening its cancer operations by acquiring assets from GlaxoSmithKline and hiving off smaller operations such as vaccines, over-the-counter drugs and animal health.
On Monday, it concluded the last bit of unfinished business related to the overhaul, agreeing to sell its global influenza vaccine business to Australia’s CSL Ltd for $275 million.
From now on, it plans to focus on three core areas – pharmaceuticals, eye care and generics.
Sales at its pharmaceuticals division were flat at $7.9 billion, hurt by full copycat competition to its once best-selling blood pressure pill Diovan, after India’s Ranbaxy Laboratories launched its long-awaited generic version on July 7.
This offset good performances by its multiple sclerosis pill Gilenya and cancer drug Afinitor, which the company hopes will help support sales through a further upcoming patent expiry on leukaemia treatment Glivec.
The Basel-based firm kept its financial outlook for the full year unchanged, predicting low-to-mid-single digit sales growth in constant exchange rate terms.
It also forecasts core operating income to grow at a mid-to-high-single digit rate.
