Tamiflu and cancer drugs lift Roche above forecasts

By Ben Hirschler

LONDON (Reuters) - A spike in U.S. demand for flu drug Tamiflu and strong sales of mainstay cancer medicines lifted first-quarter sales at Roche Holding AG by a bigger-than-expected 5 percent.

The healthy performance in its main pharmaceuticals unit - which was also bolstered by approval of two new breast cancer drugs - offset weak sales in diagnostics, and the Swiss group confirmed its forecast of rising sales and profit for 2013.

The world's largest maker of cancer drugs said quarterly sales rose to 11.59 billion Swiss francs ($12.44 billion), compared with the average analyst forecast of 11.45 billion francs in a Reuters poll.

Analysts at Jefferies and Sarasin said it was a good set of numbers, although diagnostics were once again disappointing. Roche stock was 0.3 percent higher by 02:10 ET.

Sales in the smaller diagnostics business were up just 1 percent in the quarter with diabetes care down 5 percent, due to stiff competition and pricing pressure.

Demand for Tamiflu - a smaller seller than Roche's cancer blockbusters - accounted for half the beat in the pharma division, with sales surging 84 percent in the quarter following a severe flu season in the United States.

Chief Executive Severin Schwan said the bumper Tamiflu sales would not last and demand had already tapered off since the end of February. But he was "confident" of meeting the company's full-year targets.

"The Roche group is off to a good start in 2013," he told reporters in a conference call on Thursday, adding that the company would continue to look for bolt-on acquisitions of interesting products and technologies.

Roche, which does not detail quarterly profits, is the first company to report among major drugmakers this quarter.

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Tamiflu and cancer drugs lift Roche above forecasts