Novartis Sales Doped As Clients Restock Post-lockdown

(@FahadShabbir)

Novartis sales doped as clients restock post-lockdown

Zurich, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Jul, 2021 ) :Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis said Wednesday its second quarter sales grew by nine percent, boosted in large part by clients replenishing supplies after dipping heavily into their stocks during pandemic lockdowns last year.

Net profit jumped by 49 percent from the same period last year to $2.9 billion (2.4 billion Euros), which the company said was due to lower financial charges.

Net sales came in at $13 billion in the quarter that ran from March through June, a nine percent gain when Currency variations were stripped out.

Increases in volumes would have implied a 13 percent sales gain, but reduced prices and increased competition from generics reduced this figure to nine percent.

Of that, Novartis estimates four percentage points came from clients stocking up after cutting back orders last year at the height of the pandemic.

While pharmaceutical companies might at first glance be expected to benefit from the pandemic, companies like Novartis saw sales drop last year as many hospitals delayed normal treatments to handle the wave of people needing treatment for Covid-19.

Novartis said it continues to feel this effect.

"While demand is starting to return to pre-Covid-19 levels in most geographies and therapeutic areas, we still see a slight impact on parts of our business for example in oncology, generics and certain geographies," the company said in a statement.

"We are assuming further easing of Covid-19 restrictions in the second half of the year with a positive impact on business dynamics," it added.

Over the first half of the year, the increase in sales was less marked, at 3 percent.

Novartis left unchanged its forecast for an increase in sales of 1 to 5 percent.