Novartis Delivers Strong First Quarter in 2018

Friday, April 20 2018 | 12 h 32 min | Financial News, News, Press Release

Net sales for the first quarter of 2018 were CAD 16.1 billion, an increase of 4% at constant currencies. Core operating income also grew by 4%.

Alcon’s sales continued to grow (+7%) and core operating income increased by 29% “as a result of improved operations, customer relationships and product launches.” Alcon’s net sales were CAD 2.3 billion in the first quarter, with an 8% growth in Surgical and a 5% growth in Vision Care, driven by a double-digit growth of Dailies Total1. The outlook for Alcon for the rest of 2018 is continued growth in the low to mid single digits.

Commenting on the results, Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, said: “We continued our transformation this quarter to become a more focused medicines company. We expect the proposed sale of the OTC JV stake, the acquisition of AAA and the proposed acquisition of AveXis to provide significant sales, return on capital, and innovative R&D platforms that will strengthen our pipeline. Operationally, we drove solid growth across all financial metrics, strong performance across our key growth brands, and continued Alcon’s strong recovery.”

Click HERE for the full press release.