Press Release: Novartis delivers strong full year -5-

As a % of sales 16.2 As a % of sales 16.0 20.0

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Q4 Q4 FY FY

Total Company 2023 2022 % change 2023 2022 % change

USD m USD m USD cc USD m USD m USD cc

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Net income 8 480 1 466 nm nm Net income 14 854 6 955 nm nm

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EPS (USD) 4.14 0.69 nm nm EPS (USD) 7.15 3.19 nm nm

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Cash flows from Cash flows from

operating activities 2 547 4 111 nm nm operating activities 14 458 14 236 nm nm

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Non-IFRS measures Non-IFRS measures

Free cash flow 2 141 3 713 nm nm Free cash flow 13 179 13 038 nm nm

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Core net income 3 127 3 251 nm nm Core net income 14 336 13 352 nm nm

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Core EPS (USD) 1.53 1.52 nm nm Core EPS (USD) 6.90 6.12 nm nm

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nm= not meaningful

(1) Constant currencies (cc), core results and free cash flow are non-IFRS measures. An explanation of non-IFRS measures can be found on page 49 of the Condensed Financial Report. Unless otherwise noted, all growth rates in this Release refer to same period in prior year.

(2) As defined on page 37 of the Condensed Financial Report, Continuing operations include the retained business activities of Novartis, comprising the innovative medicines business and the continuing Corporate activities and Discontinued operations include operational results from the Sandoz business.

Detailed financial results accompanying this press release are included in the Condensed Financial Report at the link below:

https://ml-eu.globenewswire.com/resource/download/a507329c-1dd6-43c6-8a9b-9d0b86d9bf20/

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that can generally be identified by words such as "may," "continue, " "ongoing," "grow," "launch," "expect," "deliver," "transformation," "focus," "address," "accelerate," "remain," "scaling," "guidance," "outlook," "long-term," "driven," "priority," "potential," "can," "will, " "propose," or similar expressions, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential new products, potential new indications for existing products, potential product launches, or regarding potential future revenues from any such products; or regarding results of ongoing clinical trials; or regarding ongoing or future share repurchases; or regarding potential future, pending or announced transactions; regarding potential future sales or earnings; or by discussions of strategy, plans, expectations or intentions, including discussions regarding our continued investment into new R&D capabilities and manufacturing; or regarding our capital structure; or regarding the consequences of the spin-off of Sandoz and our transformation into a "pure-play" innovative medicines company. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of management regarding future events and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. In particular, our expectations could be affected by, among other things: uncertainties regarding the success of key products, commercial priorities and strategy; uncertainties in the research and development of new products, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; uncertainties regarding the use of new and disruptive technologies, including artificial intelligence; global trends toward healthcare cost containment, including ongoing government, payer and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures and requirements for increased pricing transparency; uncertainties regarding our ability to realize the strategic benefits, operational efficiencies or opportunities expected from our external business opportunities; our ability to realize the intended benefits of our separation of Sandoz into a new publicly traded standalone company; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection, including the ultimate extent of the impact on Novartis of the loss of patent protection and exclusivity on key products; uncertainties in the development or adoption of potentially transformational digital technologies and business models; uncertainties surrounding the implementation of our new IT projects and systems; uncertainties regarding potential significant breaches of information security or disruptions of our information technology systems; uncertainties regarding actual or potential legal proceedings, including regulatory actions or delays or government regulation related to the products and pipeline products described in this press release; safety, quality, data integrity, or manufacturing issues; our performance on and ability to comply with environmental, social and governance measures and requirements; major political, macroeconomic and business developments, including impact of the war in certain parts of the world; uncertainties regarding future global exchange rates; uncertainties regarding future demand for our products; and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

All product names appearing in italics are trademarks owned by or licensed to Novartis.

About Novartis

Novartis is an innovative medicines company. Every day, we work to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people's lives so that patients, healthcare professionals and societies are empowered in the face of serious disease. Our medicines reach more than 250 million people worldwide.

Reimagine medicine with us: Visit us at https://www.novartis.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, X/Twitter and Instagram.

Novartis will conduct a conference call with investors to discuss this news release today at 14:00 Central European time and 8:00 Eastern Time. A simultaneous webcast of the call for investors and other interested parties may be accessed by visiting the Novartis website. A replay will be available after the live webcast by visiting https://www.novartis.com/investors/event-calendar.

Detailed financial results accompanying this press release are included in the condensed financial report at the link below. Additional information is provided on our business and pipeline of selected compounds in late stage development. A copy of today's earnings call presentation can be found at https://www.novartis.com/investors/event-calendar.

Important dates

March 5, 2024 Annual General Meeting

April 23, 2024 First quarter 2024 results

May 15-16, 2024 Meet Novartis Management 2024 (Cambridge, MA, USA)

July 18, 2024 Second quarter & Half year 2024 results

October 29, 2024 Third quarter & Nine months 2024 results

Please find full media release in English attached and on the following link:

Media release (PDF) http://ml-eu.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/849d3910-53f5-414b-880c-36e3e9869bc3

German version is available through the following link:

Medienmitteilung (PDF) http://ml-eu.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/619b2bb1-c886-4490-be9c-6fab9166596a

French version is available through the following link:

Communiqué aux médias (PDF) http://ml-eu.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/57af5415-5d3b-4bd0-ac73-33ce0a1a27e4

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 31, 2024 01:00 ET (06:00 GMT)