Roche owed $2.3 bln by southern European hospitals

Roche Holding AG was owed 2.1 billion Swiss francs ($2.3 billion) at the end of December for medical supplies by hospitals in Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal, Handelszeitung reported, citing a company spokesman.

Novartis AG said about 30 percent of all 2010 invoices issued in southern Europe are still unpaid, the Zurich-based newspaper wrote in a pre-release of a story to be published on Thursday.

[Bloomberg]