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Biotech / Medical : Novartis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stan Pruss who wrote (199)	4/21/1998 2:41:00 PM
From: Chuck Martin	Respond to of 296

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.

To: Stan Pruss who wrote (199)	4/21/1998 5:28:00 PM
From: Stan Pruss	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 296

Copy of e-mail answer to my question. "Hello, I have been a passive user of SI; today I tried to register to use it free for one month. When I tried to answer your question, the system wanted to pay. Do you think it's worthwile paying it, since there are other forums which are free? I have been today on the shareholders meeting of Novartis, since it is close to where I'm living. Among the many products to come, these are very interesting: a contact lens working for one month, a drug promoting the creation of insulin in type II of this disease, and a drug which would be used additionally in any cancer chemotherapy. I expected the share price to come down, because in June there will be a public vote on some laws against some applications of genetic engineering in Switzerland, where the headquarters are. Irrespective of the outcome and the consequences, it will have some psychological effects on the stock. On the other hand, Roche the competitor on the other side of the Rhine, went up today a little bit. I have started buying heavily into this stock since 93 and still think it is the best value in pharma. Price should go up from 2500 to 3000 Francs (+20%) within about one year. Hans Grob, Reichenbachstr. 69, CH-3000 Bern 4 e-mail: hgrob@swissonline.ch Tel. 031 301 76 07 / 061 971 14 42" Danke Sehr for your response Herr Grob. If you are seriously interested in stocks, I believe SI is worth the fee. If you do your own research and use a discount broker, you can consider this paying for research and see how much you save in a year. Stan