Novartis 4Q Profit Rises, Buoyed by Sales of New Drugs -- Update
January 24 2018 - 2:24AM
Dow Jones News
By Sonia Amaral Rohter
Novartis AG (NOVN.EB) said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter net
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 fourth-quarter net
profit of $1.98 billion compared with $957 million during the same
period a year ago. Pretax profit for the fourth quarter was $1.98
billion compared with $936 million during the same period the prior
year. 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 that, at constant currency, it expects
low-to-mid single digit growth in net sales and mid-to-high single
digit growth in core operating income. The company expects
mid-single digit growth at its innovative medicines division, while
sales at Sandoz, its generic drug division, are expected to be
broadly in-line to a slight decline.
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 02:09 ET (07:09 GMT)
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