Shares in Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) fell today after the insulin-maker missed expectations on Wall Street with its fourth quarter and full-year financial results.
The Denmark-based company posted profits of $1.38 billion on sales of $4.68 billion for the 3 months ended Dec. 31, for bottom-line loss of -5% on sales loss of -5% compared with the same period last year.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 57¢, behind consensus on The Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $4.86 billion.
For the full year, Novo Nordisk posted $6.38 billion in profits on sales of $18.68 billion.
“I am pleased that we delivered on our plans for 2017 and we are continuing to build a platform for sustainable growth,” president & CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said in prepared remarks. “The approval of Ozempic in the USA was the culmination of a year in which we achieved important product approvals and label updates. In 2018, we will focus on the global launch of Ozempic and pursue the full value potential of our strong product portfolio in what continues to be a competitive environment.”
Novo Nordisk’s once-weekly semaglutide injection, Ozempic, won FDA approval for patients with Type II diabetes at the end of the year. In its earnings report, the company said it plans to launch the product in the U.S. next week.
The insulin-maker also noted that its board’s chairman, Goran Ando, has decided not to seek re-election this year and that Helge Lund, a current member of the board, is slated to take the helm.
There are other personnel changes on the horizon for Novo Nordisk. The company’s SVP of corporate finance, Karsten Munk Knudsen, plans to assume the role of CFO in February this year, at which time the company’s existing chief finance exec, Jesper Brandgaard, will stay on as EVP of biopharm and legal affairs.
NVO shares were trading at $51.43 apiece in mid-morning activity today, down -7.3%.
1 Danish Krone = 17¢ USD
