Novartis mulls options including spinoff, IPO for Alcon unit

London

NOVARTIS AG proposed buying back US$5 billion of shares and said it's considering separating its embattled eye-care division after projecting that sales this year at Europe's second-biggest drugmaker will likely be largely unchanged from 2016.

Earnings, excluding some expenses, will probably remain flat or decline by a "low single digit" per cent in 2017 as its top-selling medicine Gleevec faces increasing competition from cheaper copycat drugs, the Basel, Switzerland-based company said Wednesday in a statement.