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Pharma giant Novartis' profits soars

Zurich - Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis said on Thursday its net profits for the first half had shot up by 13% and stuck by its forecast of continued sales growth across the year.

Driven by strong sales in emerging markets such as China and Russia, first-half net profits rose to $5.56bn, compared to $4.97bn for the same period in 2013, the group said.

Group turnover also grew, but at a slower rate, rising 2% to $28.66bn, according to the earnings statement.

Novartis boss Joseph Jimenez hailed what he called his group's "solid financial performance" and the pharma titan said it was keeping its full-year forecast of a growth in turnover of "low to mid-single digits".

In the second quarter, profits rose by 3% to reach $2.58bn, Novartis said.

Novartis has seen radical changes in the past few months, announcing in April a string of multi-billion-dollar deals with rival GlaxoSmithKline in what Jimenez described as a "transformational moment" for the Swiss group.

The deals will see Novartis sharpen its focus on the high-grossing cancer sector and GSK seeking to boost its share in the vaccine market.

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