Novo Nordisk gains 20 billion profit

Novo Nordisk, a Danish pharmaceutical giant, has earned a profit of 20.1 billion Danish kroner in the second quarter, a 3% increase from the same period last year. The growth is primarily driven by the popular diabetes treatment Ozempic and the obesity treatment Wegovy. The company’s sales reached 68 billion kroner in the quarter, marking a 25% growth. CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen expressed satisfaction with the sales growth in the first half of 2024 and subsequently raised the full-year outlook. While sales are projected to grow 22-28% in local currency, the operating profit forecast has been adjusted to a 20-28% increase from the previously estimated 22-30%. This revision considers a 5.7 billion kroner write-down in June from the underperformance of the acquired drug candidate Ocedurenone. Overall, the half-year sales totaled 133.4 billion kroner, with a net profit of 45.5 billion kroner after taxes.