By Ludwig Burger and Bhanvi Satija FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Swiss drugmaker Roche on Thursday lifted its full-year profit guidance, as cost cuts helped to offset the impact of a weaker dollar weighing on the value of overseas sales. The group said it now expected a high-single to low-double-digit percentage rise in adjusted earnings, compared with its previous forecast for a high-single-digit increase. It confirmed its annual guidance for a mid single-digit rise in sales. CEO Thomas Schinecker said that Roche's growth momentum, its efforts to mitigate any short-term impact of U.S. tariffs, and cost control measures drove the increase in guidance. "Our earnings were growing in the low double-digit range. And that made us comfortable that we can increase our guidance," said Schinecker on a call with journalists. NINE-MONTH SALES MISS EXPECTATIONS The brighter earnings prospects, albeit excluding the foreign-exchange impact, could provide a tailwind for Schinecker as he invests heavily in obesity drugs to challenge the dominance of Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Schinecker said on a call with journalists that the industry was only "scratching the surface" of the obesity market. Roche has increased U.S. inventories and planned investments in the country to try to mitigate the impact of tariffs. "I think we're in a pretty good spot compared to probably others," Schinecker said. Group revenues rose 2% in non-adjusted terms to 45.9 billion Swiss francs ($57.9 billion) in the first nine months of the year, below analysts' forecasts of 46.2-46.4 billion francs. Roche shares were down around 2% in early trade. Jefferies analysts said in a note that sales of two key growth drivers – eye drug Vabysmo and once-monthly haemophilia shot Hemlibra – missed expectations. Nine-month revenues for Vabysmo, approved to counter a common form of blindness in the elderly, came in at 3.06 billion francs. The drug competes in the U.S. with Regeneron's Eylea, a high-dose version of which was launched in 2023. ($1 = 0.7931 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt and Bhanvi Satija in London, Editing by Miranda Murray and Mark Potter)
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