In this illustration photo taken at a pharmacy in Krakow, Poland, on April 8, 2024, Novo Nordisk Wegovy packaging manufactured by Novo Nordisk is seen. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Jakub Porzycki | Only photo |
Novo Nordisk reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter net profit on Wednesday and revised down its operating profit forecast.
The pharmaceutical giant said its net profit for the three months to the end of June was 20.05 billion Danish kroner ($2.93 billion), compared with an overall forecast by LSEG of 20.9 billion Danish kroner.
EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) amounted to DKK 25.93 billion in the second quarter, also below the LSEG forecast of DKK 26.86 billion.
Novo Nordisk also lowered its operating profit forecast for the full year 2024, Growth is now expected to be between 20 and 28 percent instead of the previously expected range of 22 to 30 percent.
Novo Nordisk shares fell by almost 7 percent at one point, but were then able to make up for their losses and were last trading at 9:40 a.m. London time, down 2.71 percent.
In the first quarter of 2024, the Wegovy maker reported a 28% increase in net profit to DKK 25.4 billion year-on-year, slightly increasing its forecasts for sales and operating profit growth.
Expectations for sales growth were raised again on Wednesday. The company now issued a forecast of 22 to 28 percent at constant exchange rates for the full year 2024. Previously, the sales growth forecast for this period had been estimated at 19 to 27 percent.
Sales of the popular weight-loss drug Wegovy increased by 55% in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, reaching 11.66 billion crowns.
Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk, said on Wednesday that the company expects “attractive growth” in the coming months.
“We are very confident that we can scale and also serve patients and now achieve stronger growth for the second half of the year. So I say, worry less about what is happening specifically in [the second quarter]there have been some adjustments in discounts etc., look at our forecast and we believe there is very attractive growth ahead,” he told CNBC's “Street Signs Europe.”
Novo Nordisk faces increasing competition in the weight-loss space from both smaller companies and pharmaceutical giants such as Roche, which last month released promising results from early-stage testing of its own potential obesity drug.
Jørgensen said that while the initial test data might attract attention, it would not impact Novo Nordisk's business in the short term. Referring to Novo Nordisk's product pipeline, the CEO said he was still “very confident” that the company could “remain competitive in the long term.”
Novo Nordisk's Wegovy has also brought promising news in recent months. The drug was approved in China in the second quarter, making it available in the world's second-largest economy. Elsewhere, British and European health authorities said they would back Wegovy because it could reduce the risk of serious heart problems in overweight and obese adults.
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