By Adria Calatayud
Swiss pharmaceutical giant, Roche Holding, is set to rebound this year with a projected increase in sales and core earnings. The company faced a decline in demand for Covid-19 products and currency headwinds that impacted its financial performance in the previous year.
Roche is optimistic about its sales growth, anticipating a mid single-digit percentage increase at constant exchange rates in 2024. Furthermore, the company expects core earnings per share to align with sales, excluding any impact from tax disputes in 2023.
Despite challenging circumstances, Roche achieved sales of 58.72 billion Swiss francs ($68.17 billion) in the previous year, slightly lower than the CHF63.28 billion recorded in 2022. Adjusting for currency fluctuations, sales experienced a modest 1% increase thanks to growth in the pharmaceuticals division, which compensated for a decline in diagnostics.
In terms of profitability, Roche reported an after-tax profit of CHF12.36 billion compared to CHF13.53 billion the year before. Core operating profit declined by 13% to CHF19.24 billion, or 1% at constant currency.
Analysts had initially estimated Roche’s core operating profit to be CHF20.03 billion with sales amounting to CHF59.18 billion, according to consensus estimates provided by FactSet.
Despite these challenges, Roche increased its dividend for the year to CHF9.60 per share from CHF9.50 in the previous year and anticipates further growth in dividends in 2024.
