Eli Lilly reports 15% rise in quarterly sales

(Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co reported a 15.1% rise in first-quarter sales on Thursday, boosted by higher sales of its top-selling diabetes drug Trulicity and also benefiting from customers stockpiling its medicines amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Its quarterly revenue rose to $5.86 billion from $5.09 billion a year earlier.

However, net income fell to $1.46 billion, or $1.60 per share, in the quarter ended March 31, from $4.24 billion, or $4.31 per share, a year earlier when it recorded a gain of $3.68 billion from the sale of Elanco Animal Health. .

(Reporting by Saumya Sibi Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)