Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding raised its full-year earnings target for 2011 as cost-cutting protected its profitability from the impact of the strong Swiss franc.
The Basel-based group posted a 4 per cent fall in first-half core earnings per share to 6.68 Swiss francs ($8.11), but this still beat the average estimate of 6.48 francs in a Reuters poll.
Roche raised its 2011 core EPS target to around 10 percent in local currencies, but it left its sales guidance unchanged as it continues to grapple with austerity measures on both sides of the Atlantic.
The group said it was on track to shave off 1.8 billion francs in costs this year, and to realise annual savings of 2.4 billion francs by the end of 2012, in line with its Operational Excellence programme set out last year.
"We further improved profitability, mainly due to the ongoing implementation of our operational excellence programme. We are therefore raising our earnings target for the full-year," chief executive Severin Schwan said in a statement.
The world's largest maker of cancer drugs is looking to regain investor confidence after a string of product setbacks last year, and some investors are fairly upbeat about its prospects thanks to promising drugs coming down its pipeline.
The group has been battling lower sales of key cancer drug Avastin after U.S. authorities proposed revoking its approval in advanced breast cancer.
First-half Avastin sales fell 8 percent to 2.726 billion francs and were lower than expected.
The strong Swiss franc, which has soared from one record high to another against the euro and the dollar this year, also dented Roche's group sales, which tumbled 12 percent to 21.671 billion francs in the first-half of the year, missing expectations.
In local currencies, group sales were flat for the period.
The strong Swiss franc also took its toll on Swiss biotech Actelion Ltd , which swung to a first-half net loss of 262.3 million Swiss francs.
Actelion was also hit by a provision of $577 million it had to take for legal damages.
Reuters
