Novartis International AG has suffered a setback during the first quarter ended March 2012 due to lower sales of vaccines and diagnostics, Sandoz and Consumer Health segments. Its net profit declined by 17.5 per cent to US$ 2,327 million from $2,821 million in the corresponding period of last year. Its net sales also declined by 2.1 per cent to $13,735 million from $14,027 million. Due to lower profit, its earnings moved down to $0.95 from $1.21 in the last period.
The company's pharmaceutical sales increased by 1.8 per cent to $7,839 million from $7,698 million in the similar quarter of last year. The sales of Alcon improved by 5.2 per cent to $2,541 million from $2,416 million. The sales of Sandoz division declined by 10.5 per cent to $2,124 million and that of vaccines and diagnostics declined sharply by 19.4 per cent to $299 million from $371 million.
Joseph Jimenez, CEO, said, “Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Alcon divisions delivered strong growth and operating leverage in the first quarter. Group net sales performance was impacted by Sandoz, which was up against a strong year-ago base with enoxaparin exclusivity, and by consumer health, which was impacted by the suspension of production at the Lincoln, Nebraska manufacturing site. We are making progress remediating the quality issues at the Lincoln site, as well as the three Sandoz production sites. Importantly, we had excellent pipeline news, including strong phase III results on QVA149 in COPD. WE are pleased with the outcome of the safety review on Gilenya and expect to see continued strong sales growth.”
Alcon gained exclusive rights to commercialize ocriplasmin, a treatment for symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion outside the US. Ocriplasmin is currently under review with the EMA as the first pharmacological treatment for symptomatic VMA.
The company's long-term growth is supported by its established presence in emerging markets. Historically, it has concentrated on its top six emerging markets – Brazil, China, India, Russia, South Korea and Turkey – in financial reporting. China is currently its fastest-growing market, with very strong growth of 30 per cent.