Roche reports further growth for full-year 2012

Roche has expressed satisfaction with its business performance for 2012, during which it was able to meet its financial goals for the 12 months.

The company's sales for the year came to 45.5 billion Swiss francs (31.57 billion pounds), up by four percent year over year thanks to the success of its oncology and clinical laboratory businesses.

During the full-year period, Roche was able to strengthen its breast cancer portfolio with the launch of Perjeta and the submission of T-DM1 for regulatory approval, while the company's board was also able to propose an eight percent dividend increase.

For 2013, the group expects revenues to continue growing in line with last year, while earnings per share will rise ahead of the sales trend.

Roche's chief executive officer Severin Schwan said: "2012 was a very good year for Roche. We met our financial targets, grew faster than the market and our strong pipeline positions us well for further growth."

Earlier this month, the company reported strengthened its corporate leadership with the appointment of Dr John Reed as its new head of pharmaceutical research and early development.