AstraZeneca delivers strong Q3 earnings

29th Oct 2009 11:03

AstraZeneca's third quarter earnings beat market forecasts with a 27% hike in profit at constant exchange rates (CER), prompting the Anglo-Swedish drug giant to lift full-year targets. Core earnings jumped to $1.68 a share during the three months ended 30 September, up 28% at actual exchange rates from $1.32 a year ago and better than the $1.38 analysts had forecast.A 10% increase in revenue at CER to $8.2bn was in line with forecasts and helped core profit before tax increase by 27% (CER) to $3.4bn. Revenue rose just 5% on an actual basis due to negative exchange rate moves."Our strong business performance is driven by good operating execution bolstered by revenue upsides from Toprol-XL and H1N1 vaccine sales," said boss David Brennan."All these factors are reflected in our results for the first nine months and our increased Core EPS target for the full year." Astra now estimates mid to high single-digit sales growth at CER for the full-year, and upgraded core earnings per share to $6.20-6.40 from $5.70-6.00 previously.It said the outlook for the rest of 2009 has been boosted by the withdrawal of generic products for Toprol-XL, additional orders for the H1N1 influenza vaccine, and the release of a provision within cost of sales that further benefited gross margin.