Roche Backs Full-Year View as Quarterly Sales Rise -- Update

Dow Jones04-23

By Adam Whittaker

Roche confirmed its full-year guidance after reporting a first-quarter rise in sales driven by high demand for its innovative medicines and diagnostics.

The Swiss pharmaceutical giant said Thursday that sales rose 6% at constant currency to 14.72 billion Swiss francs ($18.76 billion) for the first three months of the year. Analysts were expecting group sales of 14.73 billion francs, according to a Visible Alpha consensus.

Sales reported in Swiss francs fell 5% from the 15.44 billion francs it reported in the same period last year as the currency appreciated strongly, boosted by its safe-haven status amid a stormy geopolitical backdrop.

Roche makes a significant portion of its income in the U.S. but it has no plans to change its reporting currency from the Swiss franc, Chief Executive Officer Thomas Schinecker said.

Roche kept its full-year guidance unchanged. On a constant-currency basis, it sees mid single-digit percentage growth in group sales and is targeting high single-digit percentage growth in core earnings per share. Its dividend is also expected to grow, the company said.

Roche said it expects continued growth despite a "dynamic" geopolitical environment. To date, the conflict in the Middle East has had no impact on the production of Roche's drugs because the region doesn't house any of its production facilities. The war has affected the supply of life-saving drugs to patients in the region, but this has been manageable so far, Schinecker said.

Quarterly sales in the pharmaceutical division rose 7% on a constant-currency basis to 11.47 billion francs, while sales in its diagnostics division rose 3% to 3.25 billion francs.

Growth in the pharmaceutical unit was driven by the sale of its Xolair drug, which treats chronic hives and food allergies, its Phesgo breast-cancer drug and multiple-sclerosis drug Ocrevus. Drugs to treat hemophilia A and severe eye diseases also added to the growth.

Shares were up 1.7% to 318.3 Swiss francs in early European trade.

Write to Adam Whittaker at adam.whittaker@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 23, 2026 03:31 ET (07:31 GMT)

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Roche Backs Full-Year View as Quarterly Sales Rise -- Update

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