Member Article

AstraZeneca report pretax profits down 13%

AstraZeneca, who have a base of operations in Macclesfield, have reported in their 3rd quarter results a pre-tax profit of £1.6 billion, down 13% on the same time last year.

Their revenue however is reportedly up 5% on the same period of time last year, at £6.5 million.

The decline in profit could be due to a slight increase of the cost of sales and more money spent on R&D.

The company plan to continue to selectively invest in growth platforms in 2015 while managing its overall costs. Full guidance for its 2015 plans are expected to be provided with the final 2014 results on the 5 February 2015.

Pascal Soriot,chief executive officer, commenting on the results, said: “I’m pleased to report our third consecutive quarter of revenue growth, driven by a strong contribution from our growth platforms.

“Brilinta, respiratory and diabetes, our three core franchises, increased sales by 38 percent in the quarter, supported by continued selective allocation of sales and marketing resources.

“In addition, we have chosen to invest in our rapidly developing pipeline that will continue to create value for AstraZeneca in 2015 and beyond.

“This enhanced execution of our strategy and our sustained performance gives us confidence to increase our revenue and Core earnings guidance for the year.

“I’m particularly proud of our teams who continue to demonstrate their focus and belief in our strategy, which is rapidly transforming our company.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Taha .