Novartis AG’s share price down, second-quarter profit on the lower end of estimates

The biggest drug manufacturer by revenue in the world – Novartis AG, posted second-quarter figures today, logging revenues and profit in line with more pessimistic forecasts.

According to Novartis AGs statement, the companys profit, excluding some items, rose by 3% to reach $3.28 billion, or $1.34 per share, falling short of expected $1.37 per share. The net profit attributable to shareholders increased by 1.6% to $2.56 billion, from $2.52 billion a year ago. Revenues of were logged at $14.64 billion, up 2% on an annual basis.

“When all’s said and done they’re going to get away with having a slightly weak set of numbers because the focus is slightly different,” Michael Leuchten, analyst at Barclays Plc in London, said for Bloomberg.

The company announced that its sales in Russia, China and other emerging markets jumped by 8%, and its revenue generated by growth products increased by 18%. The growth products are estimated to generate about one-third of the total sales of the Switzerland-based drug maker.

Currently the Switzerland-based drug maker is in the midst of completing a series of deals it revealed earlier in 2014. One of the acquisitions is the purchase of the cancer unit of GlaxoSmithKline Plc that was announced by the company in April this year, while Novartis will also sell its animal-health and vaccines units, in addition to further cutting administration costs.

“This is going to be a process over time that allows us to continually lower our costs, continually drive margin growth at a time when we’re innovating,” Joe Jimenez, Chief Executive Officer of Novartis, said on a telephone interview today, which was cited by Bloomberg. “I feel very positive about the long-term prospects to maintain good productivity.”

The company also confirmed its full-year sales and profit expectations at the low-to-mid range single-digit percentage increase.

Novartis AG lost 1.73% to trade at 79.75 Swiss francs per share by 12:12 GMT, marking a one year change of +15.99%.