COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark's Novo Nordisk 's (CO:NOVOb) second-quarter operating profit beat market expectations as strong sales growth of its Victoza diabetes drug offset price pressure in the United States.
The company, the world's largest insulin maker, kept its forecast for sales to grow by 7-9 percent in 2015, but said that the operating profit now was expected to grow by 19 percent, up from an earlier forecast of 17 percent.
Operating profit rose 43 percent from the same quarter last year, on the back of a stronger dollar, to 12.48 billion Danish crowns ($1.83 billion), above a forecast of 11.97 billion in a Reuters poll.