(Alliance News) - Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd on Monday reported a rise in first-half revenue thanks to the success of its cancer treatment Enhertu, leading the firm to up its full-year outlook.

In the six months ended September 30, the Japanese pharmaceutical company reported a pretax profit of JPY91.27 billion, around USD614.1 million.

This represented an increase of 6.2% against the JPY85.96 billion achieved a year prior.

Profit attributable to the owners of the company, meanwhile, fell by 6.7% to JPY58.31 billion from JPY62.47 billion the previous year. Daiichi Sankyo blamed this on an increase of income taxes.

Earnings per share dropped to JPY30.42 from JPY32.59.

Revenue in the half climbed 15% to JPY607.80 billion from JPY529.97 billion the previous year. This was due to growth in its global mainstay products, such as cancer treatment Enhertu and anticoagulant Lixiana.

Daiichi Sankyo also noted a positive effect from foreign exchange of JPY43.4 billion as a result of the depreciation of the yen.

Looking ahead, Daiichi Sankyo said it expects revenue of JPY1.250 trillion in the financial year ending March 31, with total profit of JPY100.0 billion.

Previously, the company expected financial 2023 revenue of JPY1.150 trillion and profit of JPY83.0 billion. The upward revision was based on a strong performance of Enhertu and the positive effect from the depreciation of the yen, it explained.

In the last financial year, financial 2022, Daiichi Sankyo reported revenue of JPY1.044 trillion and total profit of JPY66.97 billion.

Daiichi Sankyo closed 2.7% higher at JPY4,767.00 on Monday in Tokyo.

By Heather Rydings; heatherrydings@alliancenews.com

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