Novartis Shares Buoyed by Guidance Hike -- Update

   By Donato Paolo Mancini 
 

Shares in Novartis AG (NOVN.EB) shot up in early trading Wednesday, on track to regain lost ground after the Alcon Inc. (ALC) spin-off earlier this month, after the Swiss drug giant raised its 2019 core operating income growth guidance on strong first-quarter sales.

At 0705GMT, Zurich-listed shares rise 2.6% at CHF79.93, after gaining as much as 2.8%.

Analysts at Citi said in a note that the strong first-quarter results should serve to reverse the selloff seen after the Alcon eye-care unit spinoff earlier this month, which was the largest Swiss stock-market transaction in nearly a decade. As expected, Novartis shares lost more than 10% following the spinoff.

Jefferies added that the stock is a top-quality EU pharma growth pick, with interesting launches like Zolgensma and Mayzent potentially happening soon.

Net profit for the first quarter came in at $1.87 billion, down from $1.97 billion the year prior. The company's core operating income grew to $3.25 billion from $2.98 billion the year prior.

Net sales grew to $11.11 billion on-year.

The Swiss drugmaker raised its core operating income growth guidance for 2019 to high-single digit, and confirmed its sales guidance for the year at mid-single digit.

"Novartis is off to a strong start in 2019 with the Mayzent launch, successful Alcon spinoff, and strong operational execution leading us to revise 2019 profit guidance upwards," Chief Executive Vasant Narasimhan said.

Under Mr. Narasimhan, who took the top job last year, Novartis has been aggressively culling parts of its business to focus on higher-value operations. The company has spent billions of dollars in dealmaking to effect that shift.

Write to Donato Paolo Mancini at [e-mail]; @donatopmancini

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 24, 2019 03:51 ET (07:51 GMT)

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