Novartis AG signage on a constructing on the corporate headquarters campus in Basel, Switzerland, on Monday, January 8, 2023.
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Shares of the Swiss drug manufacturer Novartis rose as much as 4.8% in early deals on Tuesday after the corporate raised its full-year forecast following a better-than-expected report First quarter results.
Shares pared gains barely and were up 4.6% at 8:50 a.m. London time.
Novartis’ net sales rose 11% in the primary three months of the 12 months, while core operating income rose 22% in the identical period.
CEO Vas Narasimhan said growth was solid across all key brands, including blockbuster heart failure drug Entresto and psoriasis drug Cosentyx.
“Our performance was broad-based across all key growth brands and regions, allowing us to raise full-year 2024 guidance,” he said in a press release.
The company said net sales are expected to extend by a high-single-digit to low-double-digit percentage in 2024, after previously forecasting mid-single-digit growth.
The drugmaker also revised its core operating profit expectations to grow within the low double-digit to mid-teens, after previously forecasting high single-digit growth.
Narasimhan said the corporate continued to advance its drug pipeline in the primary quarter, including treatments for prostate cancer and leukemia.
“The momentum of our business and pipeline continues to give us confidence in our medium and long-term growth prospects,” he said.
