Novo Nordisk Q1 beats consensus, raises guidance

Novo Nordisk, the world's biggest maker of insulin, posted on Tuesday a bigger first-quarter operating profit than expected and raised its sales and earnings guidance for the full year. Operating profits rose to 4.38bn Danish crowns ($784m) from 3.81bn a year earlier. That compared with a mean forecast in a Reuters poll of 19 analysts for 3.88bn. The company said sales growth in the first quarter was driven by modern insulins and diabtes drug Victoza. Novo said the roll-out of its new-generation type 2 Victoza, which was launched in nine European countries last year and in the United States in February, was progressing well and the drug was now commercially available in 15 countries. "The initial performance in the US, as measured by prescription level data, is encouraging," Novo said. Novo said it now saw 2010 group sales growth in local currencies of 7-10 per cent and reported sales growth around 3 percentage points above that. It said it now saw operating profit growth in local currencies of more than 10 per cent and reported operating profit growth around 6 percentage points above that. The firm's previous guidance, given in February, had been for sales growth of 6-10 per cent and operating profit growth of around 10 per cent.