Novartis 4Q Profit Rises, Buoyed by Sales of New Drugs
January 24 2018 - 2:05AM
Dow Jones News
By Sonia Amaral Rohter
Novartis AG (NOVN.EB) said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter
pretax profit increased on higher income from associated companies
and strong sales of newer drugs, which helped offset the negative
impact of generic competition.
The Swiss pharmaceuticals company reported third-quarter pretax
profit of $1.98 billion compared with $936 million during the same
period a year ago. Revenue for the quarter increased 4.8% to $12.92
billion, Novartis said.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected pretax profit for the
quarter of $1.88 billion and sales of $12.79 billion.
Sales at the eyecare unit Alcon, which has been undergoing a
strategic review since early 2017, grew 8.3% to $1.56 billion.
Novartis says that it expects net sales growth in the low-to-mid
single digit range for Alcon in 2018.
In 2018, the company said it expects low-to-mid single digit
growth in net sales and mid-to-high single digit growth in core
operating income.
For 2017, Novartis proposed a dividend of CHF2.80 a share, a 2%
increase over the prior year.
Write to Sonia Amaral Rohter at
sonia.amaralrohter@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 24, 2018 01:50 ET (06:50 GMT)
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