BRIEF—Eli Lilly announces 2018 financial guidance

Indianapolis, USA-based Eli Lilly has announced 2018 financial guidance of low-single-digit revenue growth, sending the firm’s share price up over a dollar, or 1.5%, in morning trading.

Chief executive David Ricks said: "Lilly is in the early stages of a growth period driven by revenue from recently launched products, including Trulicity, Taltz, Basaglar, Jardiance, Verzenio, Cyramza, Olumiant and Lartruvo.”

“Additionally, progress on our productivity agenda is expected to further expand our operating margin.”

Following generally accepted accounting principles, earnings per share (EPS) guidance for 2017 was lowered to $1.56 to $1.66, due to “asset impairment, restructuring and other special charges.”

EPS for 2018 is expected to be in the range of $4.24 to $4.34, based on revenue of between $23 billion and $23.5 billion.