By Jens Hansegard
Novo Nordisk A/S (NOK) on Thursday said it is raising its
financial targets as it reported a strong rise in profit and solid
sales growth of its diabetes drugs.
The Danish pharmaceutical company reported a net profit of 9.88
billion Danish kroner ($1.47 billion) for the three months to the
end of March, compared with DKK6.46 billion kroner in the same
quarter last year.
Quarterly revenue rose 24% to DKK25.20 billion from DKK20.34
billion in the year-earlier period, driven by growing sales of
diabetes drugs Levemir and Victoza. North America was the main
contributor to sales growth.
The company's gross margin was 84.6% in the first quarter,
compared with 83.0% in the same period last year. Currency effects
boosted the company's gross margin by 1.6 percentage points,
whereas the underlying gross margin was unchanged.
For 2015, the company expects sales growth in local currencies
of 7% to 9%. Operating profit growth in local currencies is
forecast at about 17%.
Write to Jens Hansegard at jens.hansegard@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires