14th Mar 2006 11:00
AstraZeneca PLC14 March 2006 AstraZeneca Education Seminar on Merck arrangements On Tuesday, 14 March 2006 at 13:00gmt (14:00cet, 08:00est) AstraZeneca willconduct an education seminar on the topic of the Company's arrangements withMerck. Details for accessing the audio webcast of this seminar are listedbelow. The objective for the seminar is to promote an understanding of the broadfinancial implications that are possible as a result of various terminationscenarios provided for in the agreements, with a principal focus on the periodbeginning in 2008. The slides to be used in the presentation are now available on the Company'swebsite, www.astrazeneca.com. Much of the content in the slides has been excerpted from the AstraZeneca 2005Annual Report and Form 20-F (pages 52-54, page 97, and pages 116-118). Commenting on the seminar content, AstraZeneca Chief Financial Officer JonSymonds said, "While the subject matter can appear complex, the conclusions arerelatively straightforward. Based on our current estimates, if Merck exercisesthe First Option in 2008, the net payment to Merck is unlikely to exceed theminimum value of $3.3 billion. Secondly, the estimated impact on our Profit andLoss account from 2008 onwards will be neutral to slightly positive to earningson a cash basis (that is excluding amortization of capitalized intangiblesassociated with the payment to Merck), and slightly negative on an accountingbasis (including amortization of the intangible assets). The payment will bemade from existing cash resources, with no effect on our shareholderdistribution policy. Audio webcast There will be an audio webcast with sychronised slides. During the Q&A sessionyou will be able to email questions to Jon Symonds. Printable .pdf versions (b/w) of the slides are now available to download on theAstraZeneca Investors website (www.astrazeneca.com/node/investor.aspx). A replay of the webcast will be available for viewing on the AstraZenecaInvestors website from 15:30gmt on Tuesday 14 March. The indexed version willbe available from 09:00gmt on Wednesday 15 March until 17:00gmt on Tuesday 28March 2006. 14 March 2006 Media Enquiries: Edel McCaffrey, Tel: +44 (0) 207 304 5034Steve Brown, Tel: +44 (0) 207 304 5033 Investor Relations: Mina Blair, Tel: +44 (0) 207 304 5084Jonathan Hunt, Tel: +44 (0) 207 304 5087Ed Seage, Tel: +1 302 886 4065Jorgen Winroth, Tel + 1 212 579 0506 -Ends- This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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