AstraZeneca, London’s leading drug maker on Thursday showcased estimated growth in 2023 earnings and revenue. The British drugmaker has decided to offset declining sales of COVID-19 medicines with their cancer, metabolic, and rare disease drugs.
The company’s shares jumped 5% making it the second-best performer on the London blue-chip FTSE 100 index in the early trade of the day. This also set out to be the best day for the company in a year.
Pascal Soriot CEO of AstraZeneca said that the company was on a path to deliver at least 15 new medicines in this decade. It has also predicted a return to growth in China, which has been one of its key markets. The prediction has come after AstraZeneca reported a second consecutive quarter of growth even when the prices remained under pressure.
In a news briefing Soriot stated, “Based on our progress in developing our existing and new medicines, we move into 2023 very much on track to deliver our industry-leading growth ambitions for 2025, but also beyond until 2030.”
The 2023 guidance did raise analysts’ concerns regarding profits, and how they would be eroded by the company’s higher expenses for clinical trials and drug launches.
The Barclays analyst Emily Field said, “We think that given the concerns around margins going into results, we think this result/guide is good.”
Earnings for AstraZaneca excluding the COVID-19 medicines are expected to increase by a double-digit percentage. The company also said that the core operating expenses this year will increase by a low-to-mid single-digit percentage.
