SWISS pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG says fourth quarter net income dropped 26 per cent but the company still posted a healthy 2014 annual profit.
THE Basel, Switzerland-based company said on Tuesday that fourth quarter net income came in at $US1.49 billion ($A1.88 billion), down from $US2 billion in the same quarter the year before excluding its blood-transfusion diagnostics unit, which it sold in 2013.
Novartis took a one-time charge of $US1.1 billion in the quarter connected to the sale of its flu vaccine business. Year-end profit rose to $US10.3 billion ($A13.01 billion) in 2014, a 12 per cent increase over 2013’s $US9.6 billion profit excluding the diagnostics unit. CEO Joseph Jimenez said in 2014 Novartis “delivered solid sales growth with margin expansion, strengthened innovation and advanced our quality and productivity.”