Roche 1st Half Net Profit Rose as Diagnostics Division Drove Sales Growth

By Maitane Sardon

Roche Holding AG said Thursday that profit for the first half of the year increased as sales grew, mainly driven by the diagnostics division.

The Swiss pharmaceutical company posted a net profit of 8.53 billion Swiss francs ($8.78 billion) compared with CHF7.80 billion a year earlier on sales that rose to CHF32.29 billion from CHF30.71 billion.

Analysts were expecting sales to rise to CHF31.95 billion, according to a company-compiled consensus.

Operating profit rose to CHF11.54 billion from CHF10.08 billion.

Sales at the company's pharmaceuticals division rose 3% to CHF22.35 billion, from CHF21.67 billion.

The diagnostics division recorded CHF9.95 billion in sales, up 11% from CHF9.04 billion.

"We achieved good results in the first half of the year, thanks to the continued strong demand for our diagnostics base business and our new medicines to treat hemophilia, cancer and neurological disorders," chief executive officer Severing Schwan said. "Thanks to the ongoing renewal of our portfolio, we continue to grow despite biosimilars, whose impact declined further as expected."

The company backed its outlook for 2022. Roche expects sales to be stable or grow in the low-single digits, while core earnings per share should grow in the low- to mid-single digit range at constant exchange rates.

Write to Maitane Sardon at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 21, 2022 01:53 ET (05:53 GMT)

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