ZURICH, July 27 (Reuters) - Roche ROG.S , the biggest maker of cancer drugs, raised its 2007 outlook after first-half profit beat market expectations just as the Swiss group's ageing portfolio of blockbuster medicines faces increasing competition from biosimilar copies.
"In 2017, Roche now expects sales to grow mid-single digit, at constant exchange rates. Core earnings per share are targeted to grow broadly in line with sales, at constant exchange rates. Roche expects to further increase its dividend in Swiss francs," it said on Thursday.
Core earnings per share rose 6 percent to 8.23 Swiss francs, faster than 5 pecent slaes growth to 26.34 billion. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected core EPS of 7.93 francs on sales of 26.11 billion.