AZN AstraZeneca PLC

By Cecilia Butini

--AstraZeneca earnings and sale rose in the quarter and the company expects an acceleration in the second half of the year

--Tagrisso and Imfinzi were confirmed as key sales growth drivers during the quarter

--Earnings per share were partly hit by the development of the company's coronavirus vaccine

AstraZeneca PLC said Friday that sales and earnings rose in the first quarter and backed its 2021 outlook, saying it expects the impact of the pandemic to reduce in the second half of the year.

The pharmaceutical giant said net profit rose to $1.56 billion from $780 million the year prior.

Operating profit came in at $1.90 billion compared with $1.22 billion the previous year, while after-tax profit stood at $1.56 billion, up from $750 million, it said.

Sales for the period climbed to $7.32 billion from $6.35 billion, the company said.

Earnings per share were $1.18 in the quarter, versus $0.59 in the same quarter in 2020. The company said the development of its coronavirus vaccine had a negative $0.03 impact on EPS in the quarter. The company plans to submit its Covid-19 vaccine for regulatory approval with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks.

Key growth driver Tagrisso, a drug used in the treatment of lung cancer, generated revenue of $1.15 billion in the quarter, which the company said was a 17% increase on the previous year. Revenue from monoclonal antibody Imfinzi rose 20% to $556 million.

AstraZeneca backed a previously given outlook for the full year, which was for total revenue increasing by a low-teens percentage, and core earnings per share rising to $5.00 from $4.00, all at constant exchange rates. It said that the guidance doesn't incorporate revenue or profit impact from sales of the Covid-19 vaccine, and that it also excludes the proposed acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Write to Cecilia Butini at cecilia.butini@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 30, 2021 03:03 ET (07:03 GMT)

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