Solid 3rd-quarter results from Novartis, despite Gleevec patent expiry

Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) this morning posted third-quarter 2016 financial results, showing that net revenues slipped 1% to $12.1 billion compared with the like 2015 period. This was slightly below analysts’ expectations of $12.25 billion.

Volume growth of 5 percentage points was more than offset by the negative impact of generic competition (-4 percentage points) and pricing (-2 percentage points). Growth Products contributed $4.3 billion or 36% of net sales, up 20% over the prior-year quarter.

For the three months, net income from continuing operations increased 7% to $1.9 billion. Core net income from continuing operations, which strips out one-time gains and losses such as proceeds from the consumer health care joint venture, dipped 4% to $2.9 billion, exceeding consensus analysts’ forecast of core net income of $2.8 billion.