Roche Holding Ltd. (ADR)(OTCMKTS:RHHBY) raised its yearly outlook as robust sales of its immunology and cancer treatments helped the company overcome the currency appreciation. The sales for the quarter came at 11.94 billion Swiss francs compared to 11.78 billion francs a year ago, beating the market estimates of 11.83 billion francs.
The details
Roche Holdings reported that third-quarter revenue from pharmaceuticals segment came at 9.34 billion francs compared to 9.13 billion francs a year ago, while sales at its diagnostics segment were slightly lower at 2.6 billion francs. The company doesn’t posted earnings for the quarter. It expects full-year revenue growth in the mid-single digit at constant exchange rates, which mitigates the adverse impact of currency swings.
The management view
Roche expects core earnings per share to surge ahead of sales, measured in constant currencies. The company may raise its share dividend in coming period. Roche’s CEO Severin Schwan stated that with revenues continuing to increase strongly, they are raising outlook for the full fiscal. The management is delighted about the promising news flow coming from product pipeline. This includes encouraging data about Roche’s cancer immunotherapy drug atezolizumab to treat lung and bladder cancer and promising results on ‘Ocrelizumab’, an experimental therapy to treat multiple sclerosis.
The expectations
Analysts believe that Ocrelizumab could record sales of two billion francs by 2023 if it gets approval for sale. These drugs have the potential to create a big difference to individuals living with these fatal diseases.
Roche Holding Ltd. (ADR)(OTCMKTS:RHHBY) stated that its sales growth for the first three quarters of the fiscal to 35.53 billion francs had been lowered by the appreciation of Swiss franc, which gained significantly against the euro. In francs, this suggests a 2% increase, but it was a 6% gain in constant exchange rates, which lowers the impact of currency fluctuations. Overall, the company recorded a negative currency effect of 4% on growth.
