| AstraZeneca Profit Rose 22% helped by swine flu vaccine |
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29/10/2009 16:54 (22 Day 22:36 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- U.K. drug maker AstraZeneca PLC on October 29 reported 22 percent rise in third quarter net profit, helped by initial sales of its swine flu vaccine.
Net income was $2.12 billion, compared with $1.73 billion a year earlier, London-based AstraZeneca said in a Regulatory News Service statement, according to Bloomberg. Earnings excluding restructuring and other one-time costs gained to $1.68 a share from $1.32, beating the $1.38 mean estimate of 19 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Sales gained 5.4 percent to $8.2 billion, compared with 21 analysts’ mean estimate of $7.97 billion.
The same source reported that the U.S. government has ordered 40 million doses of AstraZeneca’s H1N1 nasal spray vaccine, giving the drugmaker a $453 million boost in revenue for the second half.
The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker was already doing well this year, reflecting the resilience of the overall pharmaceutical market and delays in cheap generic versions of heart drug Toprol XL and cancer treatment Casodex -- though both have now hit the U.S. market, Reuters wrote. Long-term concerns remain, however, given the group's looming loss of patent protection on many of its top-selling medicines.
The firm also said it had reached an agreement in principle with U.S. attorney's office in Philadelphia to resolve an investigation related to its schizophrenia drug Seroquel sales and marketing practices, the same source reported. The settlement accounts for $520 million of the $538 million provisions taken in the first nine months of the year, it said. Other major drugmakers in Europe and the United States have also reported solid results this quarter, helped by an industry-wide cost cutting drive that has softened the impact of generic competition to many products.
AP informs that the gains have led the drugmaker to lift its full year earnings per share forecast to a range of $6.20 to $6.40, from $5.70 to $6 previously.
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