AstraZeneca Swung to 3Q Loss Despite Higher Revenue; Continues to Lose Money From Covid-19 Vaccine
November 12 2021 - 3:11AM
Dow Jones News
By Cecilia Butini
AstraZeneca PLC on Friday posted a net loss for the third
quarter despite a jump in revenue, and said it continued to lose
money from the development of its coronavirus vaccine.
The Anglo-Swedish pharma giant posted a net loss of $1.65
billion for the third quarter, a swing from net profit of $651
million the year prior. Before taxes, the loss amounted to $2
billion, from a pretax profit of $853 million for the third quarter
of 2020.
Revenue, however, rose on year to $9.87 billion from $6.58
billion, growth that the company attributed to an increase in
product sales and to the first contributions from the rare-disease
business following the acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceuticals.
AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine generated $1.05 billion in
revenue in the third quarter, though its development weighed on
earnings for the third consecutive quarter, shaving $0.01 off
earnings per share for the period, the company said.
The shot is expected to generate a limited profit contribution
in the fourth quarter, and the company expects to progressively
transition it to modest profitability as new orders come in.
Most of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine sales in the coming
quarter will come from original pandemic agreements, though it also
expects new orders to come in, it said.
The company backed its guidance for the full year, saying it
expects revenue excluding the coronavirus vaccine to grow by a
low-twenties percentage. Core earnings per share are seen growing
to $5.05-$5.40, according to AstraZeneca.
Write to Cecilia Butini at cecilia.butini@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 12, 2021 02:56 ET (07:56 GMT)
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