Galderma raises full-year outlook after sales beat, commits to US expansion

By Marleen Kaesebier

(Reuters) -Switzerland's Galderma raised its full-year guidance on Thursday after third-quarter sales beat expectations despite pressure from U.S. tariffs, sending shares in the skincare company up around 7%.

Third-quarter net sales came in at $1.29 billion compared with the $1.24 billion provided in a company-compiled consensus.

Galderma, which listed in March 2024, now expects full-year net sales to increase by between 17% and 17.7% year-on-year at constant currency, up from 12% to 14% previously.

The firm highlighted strong growth in its Nemluvio dermatology portfolio and said it has committed to spend more than $650 million on U.S. manufacturing through 2030.

"We've overall shifted a lot of focus to the U.S. also because the growth is incredibly strong in the U.S.," CEO Flemming Ornskov told Reuters.

Galderma's third-quarter net sales in the United States grew by 17.5% from the same quarter last year.

U.S. President Donald Trump in August imposed 39% import duties on Switzerland, and Ornskov described the tariff situation as a moving target that the firm was watching closely.

So robust had Galderma's performance been that the company was increasing employment not only in the United States, but also Europe and Asia, Ornskov said.

"And given the very strong growth in Europe, I expect that to continue," he said.

The company also specified its forecast core EBITDA margin, expecting between 23.1% and 23.6% at constant currency, from about 23% previously.

(Reporting by Marleen Kaesebier in Gdansk and Dave Graham in ZurichEditing by Joe Bavier)