By Ludwig Burger
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Novartis on Tuesday raised its full-year earnings forecast for the third time on strong drug sales, after its generic drugs business Sandoz was spun off and listed on Oct 4.
The Swiss drugmaker said in a statement that it expects group core operating income to grow by a percentage of “mid to high teens” in 2023, up from “low double-digit to mid teens” predicted previously.
Third-quarter group sales rose 12% to $11.78 billion, excluding contributions from Sandoz, above an analyst consensus of $11.25 billion provided by the company.
Adjusted operating profit increased 17% to $4.41 billion, surpassing the average analyst estimate of $4.18 billion.
Among products driving the performance, revenues from psoriasis and arthritis drug Cosentyx gained 4% to a better-than-expected $1.33 billion.
The drugmaker will be more dependent on its drug development abilities after the separation and stock market debut of the Sandoz division.
(Reporting by Ludwig BurgerEditing by Miranda Murray)
