Novo Nordisk full-year 2023 sales rose 31% to DKK 232.3 billion
The maker of Ozempic and Wegovy booked 2023 sales growth of 31% and said its 2024 focus includes expanding production capacity, though the report did not break out sales for individual products.
Novo Nordisk reported full-year 2023 net sales of DKK 232.3 billion, up 31% from DKK 176,954 million in 2022, the company said in its annual results announcement on 31 January 2024. Operating profit rose 37% to DKK 102.6 billion, and net profit rose 51% to DKK 83.7 billion [1].
At constant exchange rates — a measure that holds average 2022 currency rates steady — sales grew 36% and operating profit grew 44%. Diluted earnings per share came to DKK 18.62, up from DKK 12.22 in 2022 [1].
The company's two reporting regions moved at different speeds. North America Operations grew 50% in Danish kroner, or 54% at constant exchange rates. International Operations grew 11% in Danish kroner, or 16% at constant exchange rates [1].
Within the business, Diabetes and Obesity care sales rose 38% in Danish kroner to DKK 215.1 billion, or 42% at constant exchange rates. Novo Nordisk attributed that mainly to GLP-1 diabetes sales growth of 48% in Danish kroner (52% at constant exchange rates) and to obesity care, which grew 147% in Danish kroner to DKK 41.6 billion (154% at constant exchange rates) [1].
Rare disease sales fell 16% in Danish kroner, or 15% at constant exchange rates, which the company tied to a reduction in manufacturing output [1].
This announcement reports revenue at the level of GLP-1 diabetes and obesity care, not by individual product. Sales figures for specific medicines such as Ozempic, Wegovy or Rybelsus were not broken out in the results release [1].
"We are very pleased with the strong performance in 2023 reflecting that more than 40 million people are now benefiting from our innovative diabetes and obesity treatments," said Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, president and CEO. "Our focus in 2024 will be on reaching more patients, progressing and expanding our pipeline as well as the continued significant expansion of our production capacity" [1].
For 2024, Novo Nordisk said it expects sales growth of 18-26% at constant exchange rates and operating profit growth of 21-29% at constant exchange rates. Growth reported in Danish kroner is expected to be 1 and 2 percentage points lower than those figures, respectively [1].
On the pipeline, the company said that in January 2024 it completed the first phase 3a trial of IcoSema, a once-weekly fixed-ratio combination of basal insulin icodec and semaglutide, and a phase 1 trial of oral amycretin in obesity care [1].
The board will propose a final dividend of DKK 6.40 per share for 2023 at the Annual General Meeting on 21 March 2024, for an expected total 2023 dividend of DKK 9.40 per share, of which DKK 3.00 was paid as an interim dividend in August 2023. The board also decided to start a new share repurchase program of up to DKK 20 billion [1].
Why it matters for patients
Novo Nordisk is the manufacturer of semaglutide medicines, and its obesity care and GLP-1 diabetes lines are where the growth is coming from: obesity care rose 147% in Danish kroner in 2023, faster than any other part of the business [1]. Rapid growth in demand is the backdrop for the company's stated 2024 priority of significantly expanding production capacity [1]. The results release does not state whether any specific product is in shortage, or how much of the growth came from any single medicine.
For US patients, the regional numbers are relevant because North America Operations grew 50% in Danish kroner, well ahead of the 11% growth in International Operations [1]. Novo Nordisk is headquartered in Denmark, employs about 63,400 people in 80 countries and markets products in around 170 countries, and its ADRs trade on the New York Stock Exchange [1].
The financial results themselves do not change how any medicine is prescribed, priced or covered, and no pricing or insurance changes were announced in this report [1].
What happens next
Novo Nordisk has dated several upcoming events: a Capital Markets Day in Copenhagen on 7 March 2024, the Annual General Meeting on 21 March 2024, and financial results for the first three months of 2024 on 2 May 2024. Results for the first half of 2024 are scheduled for 7 August 2024, and for the first nine months of 2024 on 6 November 2024 [1].
Sources
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