AstraZeneca Sees Double-Digit Growth for Core Earnings, Revenue in 2024

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--up from $11.21 billion, London's largest company by market capitalization said. Product sales rose to $11.32 billion from $10.80 billion, 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, both total revenue and core EPS are expected to increase by a low double-digit to low teens percentage at constant exchange rates, the company said. It sees collaborative 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.

Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 08, 2024 02:43 ET (07:43 GMT)

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