AstraZeneca posted fourth quarter earnings below expectations on Thursday but sought to ease pressure on its stock with plans to buy back $1.0 billion (615 million pounds) dollars worth of shares in 2010. Skip related content
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The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker's said revenue for the year ahead would be affected by the expected loss of market exclusivity for Arimidex and for Pulmicort Respules in the United States.
"Compared to a 2009 revenue baseline that included unanticipated contributions from U.S. sales of Toprol-XL and H1N1 pandemic influenza vaccine, the company expects up to a mid single-digit decline in revenue in 2010 on a constant currency basis," it said in a statement.
Core pretax profit rose 10 percent to 2.88 billion in the fourth quarter, giving earnings per share of $1.42 on sales up 9.0 percent at $8.945 billion.
The mean consensus forecast had been for fourth quarter core earnings, which exclude certain restructuring costs and charges, to come it at $1.57 per share and sales at $8.85 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S/.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland. Editing by Paul Sandle)
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