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WASHINGTON: U.S. tax changes would help profit growth outstrip sales in 2018, while new drugs for multiple sclerosis and cancer would offset revenue declines from older medicines. Roche said it expected sales to stay flat or grow by a low-single-digit percentage. However, core earnings per share were targeted to grow by a high-single-digit, helped by U.S. tax reform that will reduce Roche’s tax rate from 26.6 percent in 2017 to “the low twenties”. Tax changes under U.S. President Donald Trump have had a big impact on investor sentiment towards drugmakers in recent weeks, with AbbVie’s (ABBV.N) stock rising after it projected a big benefit, while Pfizer’s (PFE.N) was hit by disappointment its tax rate would not be lower. Excluding the tax changes, profit would grow in line with sales, Roche said, as chief executive Severin Schwan confirmed the drugmaker expected to boost sales and profit even as its $22.5 billion-per-year drugs trio of Rituxan, Herceptin and Avastin faces increasing competition from cheaper copies following patent losses. While we are facing the entry of biosimilars for important medicines, the strength of our portfolio and the success of our recent launches makes us confident we can compensate for this impact,” Schwan told reporters.
