AstraZeneca on Friday delivered better-than-expected profits and sales in the second quarter as a strong performance of its blockbuster cancer drugs helped offset the loss of COVID-19 vaccine sales.
The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker posted an adjusted profit of $2.15 per share, up 25% and exceeding the $1.98 per share expected in company-compiled consensus estimates.
Total revenue in the quarter was $11.4 billion, up 6% and beating company-compiled analyst estimates of $10.97 billion.
Shares were up 3.1% in early trading, among the top gainers on London's blue-chip FTSE stock index.
The strong results add to a string of strong quarters for the UK's biggest company by market capitalisation worth more than 165 billion pounds ($211 billion), bolstered by a strong pipeline of drugs.
Even so, the company registered no sales of its COVID-19 vaccine, its best-selling product in 2021 at the height of the pandemic, compared with $445 million a year ago, and said it expects sales to decline significantly in the full year.
The rapid decline of the COVID business for one of the first drugmakers to develop a shot against the virus in 2020 highlights the challenge in competing with rival vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna.
"Each of our non-COVID-19 therapy areas saw double-digit revenue growth, with eight medicines delivering more than $1bn of revenue in the first half, demonstrating the strength of our business," Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said.
Excluding COVID medicines, sales in China grew by 7% at constant exchange rates in the quarter, the fourth consecutive quarter of growth on that basis.
The company upgraded its guidance for China, saying it expected total revenue to grow by a low-to-mid single digit percentage in 2023, up from a low single-digit percentage increase.
AstraZeneca is the largest drugmaker in China, which accounted for 13% of last year's revenue.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.