Since AstraZeneca (AZN) rebuffed Pfizer's (US:PFE) takeover bid last spring, the pharma giant has been under huge pressure to prove it can deliver growth on its own. As such, last year's disappointing earnings headlines run counter to the bullish tone chief executive Pascal Soriot has adopted as a defensive strategy.
In the third-quarter update, management said core EPS would drop 14 per cent in 2014. In the end it fell 15 per cent to 428ȼ, and sales of all but one of the group's key products across its respiratory, diabetes and Brilinta (heart-attack) franchises missed consensus expectations.
With a record number of new products approved by regulators last year, the company's long-term prospects still look promising. At the year-end, AstraZeneca had 133 projects in its future product pipeline, 118 of which are in clinical development. Alongside these results it also announced a $600m (£391m) deal to buy the respiratory business of US pharma group Actavis (US:ACT).
For now, however, management expects 2015 revenues to decline by a mid single-digit per cent (at constant currency), while core EPS should increase by a low single-digit per cent. The analysts at Deutsche Bank are more circumspect: prior to these numbers they were forecasting EPS of 419ȼ.
| ASTRAZENECA (AZN) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 4,598p | MARKET VALUE: | £58bn | |
| TOUCH: | 4,596-4,598p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 4,845p | LOW: 3,719p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.9% | PE RATIO: | 71 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 1,554ȼ* | NET DEBT: | 16% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($bn) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (ȼ) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 33.2 | 11.0 | 560 | 162 |
| 2011 | 33.6 | 12.4 | 733 | 176 |
| 2012 | 28.0 | 7.6 | 495 | 179 |
| 2013 | 25.7 | 3.3 | 204 | 176 |
| 2014 | 26.1 | 1.2 | 98 | 178 |
| % change | +2 | -64 | -52 | +1 |
Ex-div: 19 Feb Payment: 23 Mar *Includes intangible assets of $32.5bn, or 2,575ȼ a share £1 = $1.52 | ||||
