AstraZeneca: fourth-quarter sales fall short of consensus

(CercleFinance.com) - Drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Friday that it has delivered a year of "strong" revenue growth in 2019, supported by the launch of new medicines.


Full-year product sales rose by 12% (+15% at constant exchange rates) to 23.6 billion dollars, the company said in a statement on Friday morning.

However, its growth significantly slowed down in the fourth quarter, with product sales of 6.25 billion dollars, up 8%, or 9% at constant exchange rates, versus the consensus of 6.75 billion dollars.

The group's reported pre-tax profit fell 46% to 577 million dollars, equivalent to core EPS of 0.89 dollar.

For the record, "core" earnings exclude restructuring costs and charges.

AstraZeneca said the trends in terms of revenues are set to continue in 2020, accompanied by growth in earnings and cash.

Depending on the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, total revenue is expected to increase by a high single-digit to a low double-digit percentage this year, the group said, with mid- to high-teen percentage growth in "core" EPS.

Its shares were down 2.2% at 7,454 pence on Friday morning after a low of 7,145 pence.

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