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AstraZeneca PLC said Friday that core operating profit fell in the final quarter of the year, missing analysts’ expectations, and guided for growth in the year ahead.
The FTSE 100-listed drug maker AZN, -0.50% AZN, +0.14% reported that core operating profit slid 29% to $1.55 billion. Profit missed analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion for the closely-watched company metric that strips out one-off items.
Total revenue rose 3.9% to $6.66 billion, also falling short of analysts’ expectations of $6.73 billion at the top line.
The pharmaceutical company guided for total revenue increasing a high single-digit to a low double-digit percentage in 2020, while core earnings per share are expected to rise by a mid- to high-teens percentage, all at constant exchange rates.
AstraZeneca cautioned that its guidance depends on the final impact of Covid-19, the novel coronavirus first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
The current outlook is assuming that the epidemic lasts a few months, but the company said it is closely monitoring the epidemic, and will provide an update during first-quarter results.
China is a major driver of earnings for the business, with quarterly revenue climbing 25% in the period to $1.19 billion.
The company declared a dividend of $1.90 a share, bringing the total dividend at $2.80, unchanged from the year before.
