Novo Nordisk lowers full-year profit guidance in new CEO’s maiden quarter
The firm says it now expects full-year operating profit to grow between 4% and 7% in 2025
[COPENHAGEN] Wegovy-maker Novo Nordisk lowered its full-year profit forecast on Wednesday (Nov 5), in an early blow to the Danish drugmaker’s new chief executive officer, amid a deep restructuring drive to claw back lost ground in a fierce obesity-drug market battle.
CEO Mike Doustdar, who took the helm in August, said the lower guidance was due to “the lower growth expectations for our GLP-1 treatments”.
“We aim to accelerate on all fronts to be able to compete better in dynamic and increasingly competitive markets,” he said in a statement.
Novo Nordisk said it now expects full-year operating profit – measured in local currencies – to grow between 4 and 7 per cent in 2025, compared with its earlier forecast of between 10 and 16 per cent.
The company expects sales growth in local currencies to be between 8 and 11 per cent this year, compared with its previous 8 to 14 per cent range, it added.
Novo Nordisk said third-quarter sales rose 5 per cent to 75 billion Danish crowns (S$15.08 billion), compared with the 76.2 billion Danish crowns forecast by analysts in a poll gathered by the company.
Sales grew 11 per cent as measured in local currencies, which eliminates exchange-rate fluctuations.
The rise in sales in local currency terms slowed sharply in the last year, as competition has risen from rival Eli Lilly and copycat treatments, compared with 11.4 per cent growth expected by analysts in a company-compiled consensus.
Novo Nordisk shot to become Europe’s most valuable firm on the back of rapid sales growth of its blockbuster obesity drug Wegovy, but has seen sales growth slow, sparking a management overhaul and dragging down its share price. REUTERS
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