Ascendis Health, which had debt problems that led to a 95% fall in its share price over the past three years, is optimistic that much of its business will continue to benefit from health-care demand as a result of Covid-19.

On balance, the Ascendis portfolio may be regarded as “Covid-19 defensive”, the group said in an update on Tuesday, which is important as it seeks to improve the value of assets it is looking to sell as it grapples with a debt pile almost 20 times its market capitalisation...