Sales at drug maker Roche Holding AG climbed 17 percent in the third quarter, beating expectations, as sales of anti-cancer treatments rose strongly and fears of bird flu stoked demand for flu remedy Tamiflu.
Company executives confirmed their targets for the year of improving operating profit margins at Roche's main pharmaceuticals division and reiterated that sales of its range of medicines would grow in double-digit percentages this year.
The stock, once the laggard of European drug shares, has risen over 40 percent so far this year, in part on hopes for sales of Tamiflu as governments build stock piles ahead of a feared global pandemic of avian flu.
But Roche participation certificates, its most widely traded form of equity, failed to buck the downward trend in the Swiss Market Index on Wednesday and were 2.5 percent lower at 187.90 Swiss francs by 1415 GMT, pressured by a downgrade by DrKW.
Mirroring a strong third quarter from cross-town rival Novartis, Roche said drug sales had risen 21 percent in local currencies to 6.782 billion francs in the same period, compared with an average forecast of 6.504 billion. Group sales were up at 8.820 billion francs ($6.78 billion) against a forecast of 8.497 billion.
Roche has come under pressure to allow generic drug makers and governments to make their versions of Tamiflu, and Roche's chief executive reiterated that the company would consider letting others make the product. As expected, one-off sales of the antiviral drug lifted quarterly sales, and Roche said it expected more in the fourth quarter, bringing total sales of the drug this year to between 1.1 and 1.2 billion francs.
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