Lonza Group Ltd. said its full-year 2019 core profit rose 12.8% year over year driven by the Swiss company's pharma-related businesses.

The Basel, Switzerland-based company posted full-year 2019 core profit of CHF1.01 billion, or CHF13.59 per share, up from CHF899 million, or CHF11.98 per share, a year earlier.

The S&P Global Market Intelligence consensus normalized EPS estimate for 2019 was CHF12.96.

Lonza Group's 2019 sales amounted to CHF5.92 billion, a 6.8% yearly increase from CHF5.54 billion. The company's pharma biotech and nutrition segment booked full-year sales of CHF4.17 billion, up 11% from CHF3.76 billion in the year-ago period.

For 2020, Lonza expects above mid-single-digit sales growth, with high single-digit sales growth for its pharma biotech and nutrition segment and low single-digit sales growth for its specialty ingredients business.

Lonza Group continues to forecast CHF7.1 billion in sales and core EBITDA margin of 30.5% as part of its mid-term guidance for 2022.

Meanwhile, the company named Christoph Mäder as lead independent director in November 2019, while the search for a new CEO continues.