Actelion raises its earnings forecast thanks to cost cuts
ACTELION raised its earnings outlook for 2012 yesterday as cost cuts helped Europe’s biggest biotech company to post a first-half profit despite its most important drug facing tough competition in the US.
Actelion said it now expects core earnings to grow in a mid single-digit percentage range for 2012, compared with previous guidance for no core earnings growth. That rosier view is the second upward revision to its outlook this year.
“Actelion continues to expect product sales to decrease in the low single-digit range for the full year 2012,” chief financial officer Andrew Oakley said.
Actelion said cost cuts it launched in recent months were already helping profitability with net income for the first half of 174m Swiss francs (£113m), compared with a net loss of 262m Swiss francs in the same period last year.
“A strong half year result for the pharmaceutical company, which initially seems to have passed its health check,” analysts at Swiss private bank Notenstein said.