AstraZeneca raises profit outlook on strong medicines demand

By Pushkala Aripaka and Maggie Fick

(Reuters) - Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca raised its full year sales and profit forecast on Thursday after beating analyst expectations for second-quarter revenue on strong demand for its cancer, rare disease and heart disease medicines.

Sales in AstraZeneca's top business, oncology, grew 19% at constant currency rates to $5.33 billion and accounted for 41% of the total, while its rare disease and heart and kidney disease divisions also each raked in double-digit growth.

Second-quarter profit though was dented by a rise in expenses and sales of cancer drugs Enhertu and Imfinzi were slightly softer than expected, analysts said.

The shares slipped by as much as 4%. They were down 2.4% at 1000 GMT after gains of about 14% so far this year. But on Thursday they were one of the worst performers in the European pharma sector, which was down 0.14%.

British rival GSK's shares are up 4.1% this year and Swiss drugmaker Roche is up 11% this year, compared with the STOXX 600 Index gains of 7%.

AstraZeneca expects both 2024 revenue and core earnings per share to increase by a mid-teens percentage at constant currency rates, it said. It had previously expected revenue and profit to increase by a low double-digit to low-teens percentage.

The UK's most valuable company in terms of its market capitalisation of 189.4 billion pounds ($243.89 billion) has evolved significantly since CEO Pascal Soriot took over 12 years ago. New technologies such as antibody-drug conjugates are making up a rising proportion of its future cancer therapies.

The sales outlook reflects how the company has moved beyond the COVID vaccine, its best-selling product at the height of the pandemic in 2021, thanks to its roster of cancer therapies and a strong pipeline, including new treatments in other disease areas by the end of the decade.

"In the year to date we have continued to make encouraging progress with several disruptive technologies ... all of which have the potential to drive our growth beyond 2030," CEO Soriot said in a statement.

At its investor day in May, the company announced it aimed to grow revenue by about 75% to $80 billion by 2030, citing the expected launch of 20 new medicines and growth in its cancer, biopharmaceuticals and rare disease portfolio.

The company has been investing in building its pipeline and marketing new launches. In May, AstraZeneca said that a plant in Qingdao, China, will help it build a distinct local supply chain to serve the Chinese market, its second largest globally.

Operating expenses in the quarter were 14% higher at $6.74 billion.

Total revenue rose 17% on a constant-currency basis to $12.94 billion for the three months ended June, while core earnings came in at $1.98 per share, compared with analysts' average expectation of $12.6 billion and $1.98 per share, respectively, according to a company-compiled consensus.

AstraZeneca increased its interim dividend by 7 cents to $1.

($1 = 0.7766 pounds)

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru and Maggie Fick in London; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Elaine Hardcastle)