In a "negative surprise" - as DZ Bank analyst Thomas Maul has put it - Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG reported a substantial, 70 percent, jump in its 2008 fourth-quarter profit. The year before, the earnings of the company were disadvantaged largely due to generic competition and product withdrawals.

Sales of blood pressure and cancer drugs helped the net income soar to $1.5 billion, or 68 cents per share, from the previous year figures of $904 million, or 40 cents per share. Still, the profit from continuing operations was below the analysts' estimates because of the strong dollar - though Novartis reports in the US currency, it makes most of its sales outside of US!

The company's sales, in the fourth quarter, which in dollars increased 1 percent, were up by 8 percent in local currencies.

John Gilardi, a Novartis spokesman, remarked: "We achieved our full-year objectives for sales growth in local currencies and delivered a strong operating performance, but the fourth-quarter results were significantly impacted by the volatile currency markets."

Novartis, like some other drugmakers, has demonstrated its resilience despite the ongoing financial meltdown, more so as healthcare is an area where spending is hardly curtailed.

Looking at the year ahead, Novartis said on Wednesday that it forecasts 2009 to be an "increasingly challenging environment." An optimistic company CEO Daniel Vasella said: "Novartis anticipates another year of record results in 2009."