Credit: REUTERS/Dado RuvicAdds sales of key drugs, paragraphs 4-6
LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca AZN.L on Thursday posted fourth-quarter revenue just shy of analyst estimates, with slightly lower-than-expected sales of its best-selling oncology and rare blood disorder drugs.
The London-listed drugmaker, which reports its results in U.S. dollars, reported an adjusted profit of 1.38 cents per share on sales of about $11.2 billion.
Analysts were expecting $1.34 per share on sales of about $11.3 billion, according to company-compiled consensus estimates.
Sales of AstraZeneca's best-selling cancer drugs — Tagrisso, Imfinzi and Lynparza — generated $1.34 billion, $752 million, $689 million in the quarter respectively.
Cowen analysts expected the three drugs to bring in about $1.4 billion, $760 million and $695 million respectively.
Other key medicines, such as the rare blood disorder drug Soliris and Ultomiris that came with AstraZeneca's $39 billion acquisition in 2021 of Alexion, generated $844 million and $593 million, below Cowen estimates of $885 million and $595 million respectively.
AstraZeneca also forecast adjusted earnings per share in 2023 to grow by a "high single digit to low double-digit percentage", and revenue to increase by a "low-to-mid single-digit percentage", at constant currency rates.
(Reporting by Natalie Grover and Maggie Fick; editing by Jason Neely)
((natalie.grover@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @NatalieGrover;))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
