Swiss drugmaker Novartis boosted its first-quarter sales and profit and confirmed its 2020 targets as its generics units' sales were lifted during the coronavirus epidemic without disruptions in business for its main products.

The company's core net income rose to $3.55 billion, from $2.8 billion in 2019, against the average analyst forecast in a Refinitiv poll of $3.17 billion. Sales rose to $12.3 billion from $11.1 billion in the year-ago period, above the poll average of $12 billion.

Net income rose 16 per cent to $2.2 billion, from $1.9 billion last year. The Basel-based company still expects revenue to grow at a mid- to high-single-digit percentage rate, with core operating profit growth even faster at a high-single to low-double-digit rate.