Novartis Posts Flat Sales; Analysts Expected 5% Rise
Dow Jones Newswires
BASEL, Switzerland -- Novartis AG said sales in the first quarter were flat. Analysts had expected a 5% rise.
The Swiss drug giant said sales totaled 8.2 billion Swiss francs ($5.47 billion), unchanged from a year earlier. In terms of the local currencies in its various markets, Novartis' sales gained 3%, well below analysts' estimates.
But the company said its earnings are in line with expectations and an acceleration in growth is anticipated for the remainder of the year.
Novartis didn't provide profit figures.
Sales of the company's pharmaceutical operations were flat at 3.39 billion francs, although sales increased 2% when expressed in local currencies. The company conceded that the growth was "modest," but reasoned that the group's performance in the first quarter of 1997 was "exceptional."
Drug sales in the latest quarter declined in Brazil and Japan. But in March, sales picked up, especially in Europe. This supports the company's "forecast for faster growth" for the rest of the year, Novartis said.
Novartis singled out several drugs as fast sellers, including its Aredia cancer treatment and the Cibacen/Lotensin hypertension medicine. Novartis said another hypertension drug, Diovan, had first-quarter sales of 75 million francs and "outpaced expectations" entering its second year on the market.
For its agribusiness division, sales dipped 2% to 2.66 billion francs, while sales of the nutrition division rose 5% to one billion francs.
"The upward trend in group sales in March signals a stronger pace for the coming months," Novartis said. |
