Swiss pharmaceutical maker Novartis AG posted a 4 per cent rise in
second-quarter profit, to $1.71 billion US, on Monday due to higher
sales of its heart and cancer drugs.
The figure was up from $1.64 billion in the same period last year, but
rose at a slower pace than sales because of costs for the integration
of acquired biotech company Chiron Corp., which took effect April 20.
Second-quarter sales rose 18 per cent to $9.2 billion from $7.8
billion in the second quarter of 2005, Novartis said in a statement.
"Our strategic focus on health care delivered dynamic growth, with all
divisions achieving excellent results expanding their market share,"
said chairman and CEO Daniel Vasella.
"Led by our strategy and our commitment to innovation, I am confident
that Novartis will continue to grow strongly and achieve another year
of record sales and earnings."
Sales growth was driven by the inclusion for the first time of sales
from generics company Hexal, which was acquired last year, and five
weeks of Chiron sales. Sales of prescription drugs rose ahead of the
industry average, up 11 per cent to $5.7 billion.
"Prescription drug sales came in clearly ahead of expectations as they
continued to rise, while the market had expected growth to
decelerate," said Birgit Kulhoff, an analyst at Swiss private bank
Rahn & Bodmer. "Growth was healthy in the U.S., where the key brands
continued to grow against expectations of a slowdown for some of
them."
Novartis's net profit for the first half rose 17 per cent to $3.7
billion. First-half sales were up 15 per cent, to $17.5 billion.
The Basel-based company expects the consolidation of Chiron to reduce
its full-year net profit by $400 million to $450 million, but
maintained its outlook for posting record income in 2006.
Novartis shares fell 0.3 per cent to 66.95 Swiss francs ($54.26) in
Zurich trading.
Labels: No Prescription, Online Pharmacy, Prescription Drugs
# posted by Network @ 4:11 PM
