COVID-19 Test Business Fuels Roche Q4 Sales, Hikes Dividend

Roche Holdings (OTC: RHHBF) reports a fourth-quarter lift driven by double-digit growth in the diagnostics business, propelled by its 15 COVID-19 tests portfolio. However, the main pharmaceuticals business that makes up almost 75% of overall took a back seat during the pandemic.
Fourth-quarter sales rose 1% at constant exchange rates to CHF 14.3 billion. Pharmaceuticals sales fell 7% to CHF10.2 billion, while diagnostics revenue, including from the COVID-19 tests, rose 28% to CHF4.1 billion.
The company has posted a slightly higher full net income of CHF15.1 billion, compared to CHF14.1 billion a year ago. Core operating profit came in at CHF21.5 billion.
Roche’s three big off-patent cancer drugs, namely, Mabthera, Herceptin, and Avastin, are under pressure due to cheaper biosimilar copies and have lost CHF5.1 billion in revenue during the full year.
For 2021, Roche says that despite the strong impact of biosimilars, sales are expected to grow in the low- to the mid-single-digit range at constant exchange rates. Core earnings per share are targeted to increase broadly in line with sales.
Additionally, Roche has proposed a dividend hike to CHF 9.10.
Roche’s shares gained 1.3% in Sweden Thursday.

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