Profit increases by 51 percent
Novo Nordisk numbers soar thanks to weight loss products
January 31, 2024, 12:26 p.m
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Weight loss and diabetes products have been bestsellers since mid-2023. They will give the manufacturer Novo Nordisk a massive jump in profits in 2023.
Thanks to good business with weight-loss medications, Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk’s profits rose by 51 percent last year. The traditional group announced a net profit of 83.7 billion crowns (11.2 billion euros), exceeding analysts’ expectations. Novo Nordisk became Europe’s most valuable company last year.
The company’s sales of medications for diabetes and obesity rose by 42 percent to 215.1 billion crowns last year. Overall sales grew by 36 percent to 232.3 billion crowns.
CEO Lars Fruergaard Jörgensen said he was “very pleased” with the business figures and at the same time set the goal for 2024 to “reach more patients” and to further advance the “ongoing significant expansion of our production capacities”.
Novo Nordisk produces, among other things, the diabetes medication Ozempic, which is very popular as a weight-loss injection. In addition, the Danish pharmaceutical giant has launched Wegovy, which contains the same active ingredient as Ozempic in a different dosage and has been approved by US authorities for the treatment of obesity.
The success of the weight loss drugs has made Novo Nordisk a darling of investors. The company’s share price rose so much that last year it became Europe’s group with the highest stock market value.