In this illustrative photo taken at a pharmacy in Krakow, Poland, on April 8, 2024, a packaging manufactured by Novo Nordisk Wegovy can be seen. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Novo Nordisk on Wednesday posted lower-than-expected second-quarter net profit and cut its operating profit outlook.
The pharmaceutical giant reported net profit of 20.05 billion Danish crowns ($2.93 billion) in the three months to the end of June. An aggregate forecast by LSEG had projected the figure to rise to 20.9 billion Danish crowns.
Novo Nordisk also cut its operating profit outlook for the full year 2024, saying growth is now expected to be between 20% and 28%, instead of the previously expected range of 22% to 30%.
In the first quarter of 2024, the Wegovy manufacturer had recorded a 28% increase in net profit to DKK 25.4 billion compared to the previous year, slightly raising its forecasts for sales and operating profit growth.
Sales growth expectations were raised once again on Wednesday, with the company now issuing guidance of 22% to 28% at constant exchange rates for the full year 2024. The sales growth outlook for the period had previously been estimated at between 19% and 27%.
Novo Nordisk faces increasing competition in the weight-loss space, both from smaller companies and from pharmaceutical giants such as Roche, which last month shared promising data from early trials of its own obesity drug candidate.
Novo Nordisk's Wegovy has also received some good news in recent months. The drug was approved in China in the second quarter, opening it up for sale in the world's second-largest economy. Separately, medical regulators in the U.K. and European Union said they backed Wegovy as a way to reduce the risks of serious heart events among overweight and obese adults.
This breaking news story is being updated.
