By Elena Vardon
AstraZeneca sees its revenue and core earnings per share growing by double-digit percentages in 2024, the pharmaceuticals major said as it reported fourth-quarter results with revenue roughly in line with views and core earnings per share slightly below.
The Anglo-Swedish group on Thursday reported core EPS–its preferred metric which strips out exceptional and other one-off items–of $1.45 for the three months ended Dec. 31, up from $1.38 for the comparable period a year earlier, but missing estimates of $1.50 taken from a company-compiled consensus.
Total revenue for the quarter was $12.02 billion–a touch ahead of expectations of $12.01 billion–and up from $11.21 billion, London’s largest company by market capitalization said. Within this, product sales rose to $11.32 billion from $10.80 billion, as contributions from its rare disease and oncology medicines helped lift its gross margin, which was partly offset by the dilutive effects of more profit-sharing agreements, it added.
Net profit increased to $960 million from $901 million, it added.
“We expect another year of strong growth in 2024, driven by continued adoption of our medicines across geographies,” Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said.
For the year ahead, the company forecasts a low double-digit to low teens percentage rise at constant exchange rates for both total revenue and core EPS. It sees collaboration revenue–which rose 74% in the fourth quarter–increasing substantially in 2024 on success-based milestones and some expected transactions, while other operating income is expected to see a substantial decline, it added.
For 2023, it reported total revenue of $45.81 billion, a 6% on-year rise at constant exchange rates and core EPS of $7.26, up 15%. AstraZeneca had guided for mid-single digit total revenue percentage growth and low double-digit to low-teens core EPS percentage growth for the year.
The board declared a second interim dividend of $1.97 per share, bringing the total payout for the year to $2.90 per share.
Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com
