FRANKFURT, Oct 24 Reuters Novartis on Tuesday raised its fullyear earnings forecast for the third time on strong drug sales, after its generic drugs business Sandoz was spun off and listed on Oct 4.

The Swiss drugmaker said in a statement that it expects group core operating income to grow by a percentage of mid to high teens in 2023, up from low doubledigit to mid teens predicted previously.

Thirdquarter group sales rose 12 to 11.78 billion, excluding contributions from Sandoz, above an analyst consensus of 11.25 billion provided by the company.

Adjusted operating profit increased 17 to 4.41 billion, surpassing the average analyst estimate of 4.18 billion.

Among products driving the performance, revenues from psoriasis and arthritis drug Cosentyx gained 4 to a betterthanexpected 1.33 billion.

The drugmaker will be more dependent on its drug development abilities after the separation and stock market debut of the Sandoz division.

Reporting by Ludwig Burger Editing by Miranda Murray

Source Reuters