ZURICH – Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis today said its second quarter sales grew by 9%, boosted in large part by clients replenishing supplies after dipping heavily into their stocks during pandemic lockdowns last year.
Net profit jumped by 49% from the same period last year to US$2.9 billion (RM 12.2 billion), which the company said is due to lower financial charges.
Net sales came in at US$13 billion in the quarter that ran from March through June, a 9% gain, when currency variations were stripped out.
Increases in volumes would have implied a 13% sales gain, but reduced prices and increased competition from generics reduced this figure to 9%.
Of that, Novartis estimates four percentage points came from clients stocking up after cutting back orders last year at the height of the pandemic.
While pharmaceutical companies may, at first glance, be expected to benefit from the pandemic, companies like Novartis saw sales drop last year, as many hospitals and patients delayed normal treatments amid the first wave of Covid-19.
Novartis said it continues to feel this effect.
“While demand is starting to return to pre-Covid-19 levels in most geographies and therapeutic areas, we still see a slight impact on parts of our business, for example, in oncology, generics and certain geographies,” said the company in a statement.
“We are assuming further easing of Covid-19 restrictions in the second half of the year, with a positive impact on business dynamics.”
Chief financial officer Harry Kirsch said sales have returned 80% to 90% of their pre-pandemic levels.
In the first six months of this year, the company’s increase in sales was less marked, at 3%.
Novartis left unchanged its forecast for an increase in sales of 1% to 5% for this year as a whole.
Shares in Novartis rose by 2% in early morning trading, but gave up much of those gains to stand up 0.9% in midday trading, whereas the Swiss Market Index was up 0.8%. – AFP, July 21, 2021
