Novo Nordisk 1st-qtr 2015 operating income leaps

Danish diabetes care giant Novo Nordisk (NOV: N) posted first quarter 2015 financials this morning, showing that net sales increased 24% (+9% in local currencies) to 25.20 billion Danish kroner ($3.67 billion).Sales growth was realized within both diabetes care and biopharmaceuticals, with the majority of growth originating from modern insulin and Victoza (liraglutide).

Operating profit increased by 73% in Danish kroner and by 47% in local currencies to 13.9 billion kroner. Net income for the first quarter climbed 53% to 9.88 billion kroner from 6.46 billion kroner, beating the 9.27 billion-kroner average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The profit was boosted by a one-time gain of 2.4 billion kroner as Novo divested a 74.55 stake in information-technology unit NNIT during its March IPO (initial public offering). The company’s shares gained 1.9% to 380.10 kroner by around 8am GMT.

For the2015 full year, sales growth measured in local currencies is now expected to be 7%-9%, whereas operating profit growth measured in local currencies is expected to be around 17%, said Novo Nordisk.