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Corrections & Amplifications
This headline was corrected at 0516 GMT becuase the core oper income was misstated as $2.23B.
Novartis AG said its sales and profit fell in the second quarter and the group backed its 2022 guidance.
The Swiss pharmaceutical company on Tuesday posted net profit of $1.69 billion, down from $2.89 billion a year earlier.
Core operating income was $4.27 billion in the quarter, down from $4.35 billion the year prior.
Sales came in at $12.78 billion, compared with $12.96 billion the previous year, Novartis said. At constant currencies, sales rose 5%.
The main contributors to growth were heart failure treatment Entresto and psoriasis-and-arthritis treatment Cosentyx, Novartis said.
Analysts polled by FactSet had forecast net profit at $3.23 billion and sales at $12.60 billion for the quarter.
The company’s generics arm, Sandoz, posted a 5% sales growth at constant currencies, Novartis said.
The company backed its previously-issued outlook for 2022, reiterating that it sees group sales growth for the year in the mid-single digits and core operating income increasing in the mid-single digits.
Write to Maitane Sardon at maitane.sardon@wsj.com
