Novartis's Sales, Profit Surpass Expectations -- Earnings Review
24 Gennaio 2018 - 12:44PM
Dow Jones News
By Sonia Amaral Rohter
Novartis AG (NOVN.EB) on Wednesday reported its fourth-quarter
results. The company will host a conference call at 2 pm CET. Here
is how the results came in:
SALES: The Swiss pharmaceuticals company had fourth-quarter
sales of $12.92 billion, exceeding a consensus estimate of $12.79
billion, and up from $12.32 billion in the same period a year
earlier.
PROFIT: Net profit for the period was $1.98 billion, up from
$957 million during the year-earlier period. After-tax profit for
the fourth quarter was also $1.98 billion compared with analyst
expectations of about $1.88 billion. After-tax profit for the same
period last year was $936 million.
WHAT WE WATCHED
CAR-T: Novartis said that the U.S. launch of its CAR-T therapy
Kymriah "progressed well" in the fourth quarter and included
Kymriah among its key growth drivers. The company said that 33
treatment centers have now been certified to provide the gene
therapy, 25 of which are fully operational. Novartis didn't break
out sales figures for Kymriah or discuss its pricing strategy for
current or future indications.
ALCON: Analysts were on the lookout for any information
concerning Novartis's plans for eyecare unit Alcon and were
checking to see whether the division was able to continue its
turnaround story in the fourth quarter. Sales at Alcon, which has
been undergoing a strategic review since early 2017, grew 8.3% in
the quarter to $1.56 billion, and Novartis said that it expects net
sales growth in the low-to-mid single digit range for the division
in 2018. Novartis made "significant progress" in its review and
reiterated that sales growth and margin improvement over multiple
quarters were still the key criteria for a final decision, which
should not be expected before the first half of 2019.
ENTRESTO AND COSENTYX: Novartis is counting on its newer drugs,
particularly heart-failure drug Entresto and psoriasis treatment
Cosentyx, to drive growth and help offset revenue lost to generic
competition, so analysts were keen on seeing how these assets
performed. Entresto sales more than doubled to $185 million in the
quarter and reached $507 million for the year, slightly exceeding
the full-year target of $500 million given in Novartis's
third-quarter conference call. Cosentyx "reached multi-blockbuster
status," Novartis said, with sales of $615 million in the fourth
quarter and $2.07 billion for the year.
Write to Sonia Amaral Rohter at
sonia.amaralrohter@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 24, 2018 06:29 ET (11:29 GMT)
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