Hungarian drugmaker Richter‘s first-quarter net income climbed 13.7% to HUF 19.1 billion from the same period a year earlier, lifted by financial profit, the company’s consolidated IFRS report for the period published early Thursday shows. Richter’s revenue rose and direct cost of sales fell during the period, but operating profit edged down because of higher spending on sales and marketing and research and development. Financial profit of HUF 4.7 billion – a little more than double that in the base period – lifted the bottom line. Net income was over the HUF 16.2 billion estimate by analysts polled by Portfolio.hu. Diluted earnings per share came to HUF 1,022. Revenue rose 4.7% to HUF 85.8 billion. Cost of sales fell 1.8% to HUF 30.9 billion, raising gross profit by 8.7% to HUF 54.9 billion. Sales and marketing costs increased 20.1% to HUF 26.8 billion on the expansion of Richter’s women’s healthcare sales network in Western Europe, promotional spending for the launch of a new drug for uterine fibroids, Esmya, and the activities of the company’s joint venture in China. R&D spending was up 14.1% at HUF 11.0 billion. CAPEX rose 16.9% to HUF 3.2 billion.