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BASEL, Switzerland : Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche on Wednesday said its net profit fell 22 percent last year as a result of its buyout of US biotechnology unit Genentech.
The Basel-based group saw net profit for 2009 sink to 8.5 billion Swiss francs (5.8 billion euros, 8.1 billion dollars) against 10.8 billion in 2008, it said in a statement.
Operating profit, without exceptional items, rose eight percent in Swiss francs to 15 billion, while sales were also up eight percent at 49 billion for the past 12 months.
Roche's chief executive Severin Schwan was quoted as saying it was an excellent performance in a difficult economic context.
Despite an expected slump in sales of the anti-swine flu drug Tamiflu this year, Roche expected a growth in sales of around five percent for 2010 (excluding Tamiflu).
- AFP /ls
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