The logo of Danish multinational pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is pictured on the facade of a production plant in Chartres, north-central France, April 21, 2016. REUTERS/Guillaume Souvant/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comCOPENHAGEN, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) on Wednesday lifted its sales and operating profit forecasts for the year on the back of strong first-half earnings, but its shares fell as much as 10% after the announcement.Novo Nordisk now expects sales growth of 12-16% at constant exchange rates, up from a previous estimate of 10-14%. It sees operating profit up 11-15%, versus an earlier estimate of 9-13%.Shares in Novo traded down 9.4% at 1507 GMT.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"It could be lower than expected sales of Wegovy, which disappointed," Sydbank analyst Soren Lontoft told Reuters, referring to Novo's new obesity drug, which has faced supply issues since its launch in the United States last year.Sales of Wegovy declined to 1.2 billion Danish crowns ($163.27 million) in the second quarter from 1.4 billion in the first quarter. Overall, sales of obesity drugs grew 83% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year.The company also said it expected to make all dose strengths of Wegovy available in the United States "towards the end of 2022"."It is perhaps a tightening of the rhetoric compared to Q1, where they said 'in the second half of the year'," Lontoft said, but added the overall results from Novo were "really strong".Novo reported second-quarter operating profit of 18.4 billion Danish crowns, just above the 18.3 billion forecast by analysts, according to Refinitiv data. The company had initially planned to announce results on Thursday."We are very pleased with the sales growth in the first half of 2022. The growth is driven by increasing demand for GLP-1 based diabetes treatments, especially Ozempic," Chief Executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said in a statement.($1 = 7.3474 Danish crowns)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard
Editing by David Goodman, Mark Potter and David EvansOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Novo Nordisk raises 2022 outlook, but shares fall.