Roche 1st-qtr 2013 sales grow 6%, driven by cancer drugs

Swiss drug major Roche (ROG: SIX) this morning posted first-quarter 2013 sales figures, showing 6% (constant exchange rate) growth in sales to 11.59 billion Swiss francs ($12.45 billion), beating the 11.5 billion-franc estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, driven by Pharmaceuticals (9.2 billion francs, +7%) and Diagnostics (2.4 billion francs, +1%). All regions performed well, except Japan, where sales fell 11% in Swiss franc terms.

For the full-year 2013, the company expects group sales to increase in-line with the previous year, at CER. Core earnings per share expected to grow ahead of sale. Profits and EPS are not reported by the drugmaker at the first quarter stage. Roche’s dividend is expected to further increase in 2013. Roche shares rose 1.5% to 225.90 francs in early trading.

Commenting on the group’s first quarter, Roche chief executive Severin Schwan said: “We got off to a very good start in 2013 due to strong organic growth. The launch of two new cancer drugs, Kadcyla [ado-trastuzumab emtansine] in the United States and Perjeta [pertuzumab] in Europe, will help to further improve our leading market position in oncology. Based on the first-quarter results, I am confident we will meet our full-year targets.”