30th Jul 2015 06:27
LONDON (Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC Thursday improved its revenue guidance for its full year at constant currency, as it posted a lower pretax profit for its first half due to higher research and development costs.
The FTSE 100-listed pharmaceutical giant has improved its revenue guidance for its full year at constant currency, now expecting revenue to decline by low single-digit percentage - it had previously guided at the mid single-digit. Its expectations for core earnings per share is unchanged, it continues to expect it to increase by low single-digit percent in the full year.
Based on current exchange rates, revenue is expected to decline by high single-digit percent.
AstraZeneca posted a pretax profit of USD1.34 billion for the half year to end-June, down from USD1.50 billion a year before, as revenue fell to USD12.36 billion from USD13.22 billion, and research and development expenses grew. Revenue was hit by the stronger dollar, and at constant currency revenue rose 1%.
The company has proposed an unchanged interim dividend of USD0.90.
The company said that its robust top-line performance underpins its accelerated investment in research and development as it looks to progress its pipeline.
"The strong performance of the growth platforms and the subsequent upgrade to top-line guidance, together with increased R&D productivity reaffirm the confidence we have in our ability to navigate the final impacts from the loss of exclusivity and meet our revenue targets," said Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot in a statement.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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