Novartis 1st-qtr sales and income beat forecasts

Novartis (NOVN: VX) posted first-quarter 2020 financials this morning, noting that stocking by hospitals and patients in the coronavirus situation has pushed sales for the period up 13% at constant exchange rates to $12.3 billion, just beating a Refinitiv poll suggesting $12.0 billion.

Net income at the Swiss pharma giant rose 16% to $2.2 billion. Core net income rose 34% to $3.55 billion, exceeding the average analyst forecast from the Refinitiv poll of $3.17 billion. Excluding COVID-19 related forward purchases and lower spending, Novartis estimates core operating income growth to be approximately 22% (cc). Core earnings per share were $1.56 compared with $1.21 in the like 2019 quarter.

Commenting on the quarter, Vas Narasimhan, chief executive of Novartis, said: “We continue to deliver our medicines to patients and advance our innovative pipeline as reflected in our strong operational performance in Q1. While there are many uncertainties for the coming year, we are maintaining our full year outlook at this time and will continue to play our part to overcome the pandemic. Our response to the COVID-19 crisis demonstrates Novartis’ relentless commitment to our associates, patients, and the global community. For our associates we’ve committed to no COVID-19 related job losses and a full range of support programs. To support the global public health response, we are engaged in multiple collaborative R&D efforts, large scale clinical trials and donations to support local communities in currently over 60 countries.”