

Market Analysis
Image Credit: Reuters
Novo Nordisk (NYSE) reported a lower-than-expected net profit for the second quarter on Wednesday and adjusted its operating profit forecast downward.
The pharmaceutical company announced a net profit of 20.05 billion Danish kroner (DKK) for the second quarter ending on June 30, falling short of the LSEG aggregate forecast of 20.9 billion DKK.
Additionally, Novo Nordisk revised its operating profit growth outlook for the entire year of 2024, now predicting an increase between 20% and 28%, down from the previously anticipated range of 22% to 30%.
Despite the reduced profit outlook, Novo Nordisk raised its sales growth expectations for 2024, now forecasting a growth of 22% to 28% at constant exchange rates, up from the previous estimate of 19% to 27%.
“We are pleased with the sales growth in the first half of 2024, which has enabled us to raise the outlook for the full year,” said Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, president and chief executive at Novo Nordisk, in a statement.
Sales in North America Operations reported a growth of 36% in DKK, maintaining the same percentage growth at CER. This was partly driven by gross-to-net sales adjustments related to previous years.
Meanwhile, International Operations saw a sales increase of 9% in DKK and 11% at CER, highlighting strong performance across global markets. Within Diabetes and Obesity Care, sales rose by 26% in DKK to DKK 125.0 billion, reflecting a 27% increase at CER.
The growth in this segment was primarily driven by the GLP-1 diabetes portfolio, which saw a 32% increase in sales in both DKK and CER.
Additionally, Obesity Care reported robust sales growth of 37% in DKK, amounting to DKK 24.9 billion, with the same growth rate at CER. However, sales within the Rare Diseases segment decreased by 4% in DKK and by 3% at CER.
Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author.