Novartis profits from emerging markets

Vienna - Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis reported Tuesday that its net profit rose 45% to $3.24bn in the third quarter, on the back of growing business in emerging economies.

However, this result contains the one-off effect of $800m from selling its stake in US-based Idenix Pharmaceuticals.

Revenues climbed 4% to $14.7bn, compared to the same period last year, Novartis said at its Swiss headquarters in Basel.

Novartis increased sales significantly in China, Brazil, and Russia.

In addition, sales of recently developed products also added to the strong result. Revenue in this product segment jumped 21% to $4.9bn.

The operating profit rose 14% to $2.98bn. Without the negative effect of the strong franc, the increase would have been 18%.