AstraZeneca's second-quarter earnings beat expectations; lifts sales guidance

30th Jul 2015 08:12

(ShareCast News) - AstraZeneca's second-quarter earnings beat expectations as generic competition and the effects of a stronger US dollar were offset by the spinning off of assets and a good performance from the company's Brillinta drug.The pharmaceuticals giant posted core operating profit of $1.81bn or $1.21 a share, down from $2.03bn and $1.30 but ahead of analysts' expectations of $1.07.In addition, the company raised its forecasts for the full-year, saying it now expects total revenue to decline by a low single-digit percentage versus prior guidance for a mid single-digit drop.Second-quarter sales came in at $6.31bn, down from $6.45bn but better than expectations for around $6bn.Chief executive officer Pascal Soriot said: "We made good progress in the period, delivering a robust underlying business performance. This represents six successive quarters of top-line growth. The initiatives introduced to increase efficiency are starting to reduce selling, general an administrative costs, supporting our continued strategic investment in science and the acceleration of our pipeline which has positive momentum across all key areas. "I'm particularly pleased by the pace of progress in Oncology, with new approvals for both Iressa and Faslodex accompanied by regulatory submissions for AZD9291 and cediranib."Shore Capital said the results were slightly ahead at the top line compared to its expectations, with revenue comfortably exceeding both its and consensus estimates.However, it argued that the investment case for Astra has little to do with the second-quarter performance and more to do with its product development pipeline and the immuno oncology portfolio in particular.Shore rates the stock at 'buy'.At 09:44, shares were up 2.2% at 4,282.50p.