Novartis beats forecasts, posting 10% rise in third quarter 2010 net profit

Basel, Switzerland-based drug major Novartis (NOVN: VX) reported this morning that net profit for the third quarter of 2010 rose 10% to $2.32 billion, beating consensus analyst expectations of $2.23 billion, despite taking a $590 million charge for the discontinuation of the development of two drugs. Earnings per share (EPS) increased 6% (+12% constant currencies) to $0.99 from $0.93 in the 2009 period. Novartis’ shares gained 1% in morning trading in Switzerland, and are up 13% over the past three months.

Net sales rose 13% (+16% at cc) to $12.6 billion, with strong contributions from all businesses, particularly generics. Currency movements depressed the result by 3 percentage points. Rapid growth of recently launched products across the group generated $2.3 billion in sales, representing 20% of total revenues. Acquisitions contributed 6 percentage points to growth, mainly driven by Alcon sales of $617 million. Volumes grew by 11 percentage points offset by a negative price effect of 1 percentage point.