ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis posted a 2 percent rise in quarterly sales on Thursday and confirmed its full-year guidance, expecting revenue from new products to offset generic competition to its blood pressure pill Diovan.
Despite losing patent protection on Diovan in the United States in September 2012, the Basel-based firm has been spared competition from cheaper rivals as India's Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd struggled with quality control issues at manufacturing sites.
The Swiss drugmaker earned about $100 million for each month of delay to a generic competitor for Diovan. But Ranbaxy was granted approval to launch a copycat version at the end of June, meaning Novartis will now face the full brunt of competition.
Second-quarter sales came in at $14.64 billion, falling slightly short of the average forecast for $14.72 billion in a Reuters poll.
A solid performance at Novartis' generics business Sandoz and eyecare unit Alcon, where sales rose 4 percent and 3 percent respectively, helped offset more muted sales growth at its pharmaceutical business, where sales were up 1 percent. The pharmaceutical business was hit by bi-annual price cuts on medicines in Japan.
Core earnings per share increased 4 percent to $1.34, in line with expectations.
The Basel-based firm confirmed its guidance for sales to grow in the low-to-mid-single digit percentage range this year in constant currencies, while core operating income is expected to grow at a mid-to-high single digit rate.
(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)