Pharmaceutical Swiss drug major Roche, piping the rest of the pharma sector to post first-quarter 2010 results, pleased investors with its sales performance for the period, with revenues up 6% to 12.25 billion Swiss francs ($11.46 billion), beating the forecasts of 11.88 billion francs from analysts polled by Reuters. The news pushed the company's shares 2.2% higher to 176.50 francs, outperforming a 0.5% rise in the Stoxx European healthcare index in early trading this morning. Roche does not provide first-quarter earnings figures. 15 April 2010