Novartis announces $15 billion share buyback – Kommersant

Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis reported on strong financial performance in the second quarter. Against this background, the manufacturer raised its own forecast for the year and announced a $15 billion share buyback.

At the end of the quarter, the company’s revenue grew by 7%, to $13.6 billion, and net profit – by 37%, to $2.3 billion. In the first half of the year, sales reached $26.6 billion, which is 5% higher than in 2022, and profit grew by 32% – $4.6 billion.

Such strong performance allowed Novartis to raise its own forecast for 2023 for the second time. So, if earlier the company expected to see revenue growth at the end of the year in the region of 4-6%, now it is in the region of 7-9%, and operating profit – from 7-9% to 10-12%.

The company confirmed that selection the Sandoz generics business into a separate company has been approved by the board and is well under way, but will remain part of Novartis until the end of 2023.

Finally, the company completed a massive $15 billion share buyback program last month and is launching another one of the same size through mid-2025.

Kirill Sarkhanyants