AstraZeneca generated $ 275 million in revenue from its nonprofit Covid-19 vaccine in the first quarter, while cancer drug sales and growth in emerging markets helped the drugmaker exceed profit forecasts and sales.
The drug company confirmed its forecast for the full year of revenue growing by a small percentage of teens, with basic earnings per share growing faster, between $ 4.75 and $ 5.
Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, said the strong performance was despite the pandemic delaying the diagnosis and treatment of many conditions.
“We made solid progress in the first quarter of 2021 and continued to advance our portfolio of life-changing drugs,” he said. “We expect the impact of Covid to reduce and anticipate an acceleration in performance in the second half of 2021.”
AstraZeneca reported revenue of $ 7.3 billion, excluding contribution from vaccine developed with University of Oxford, up 15% year-on-year and above consensus forecast of $ 7 billion.
Oncology sales were up 20 percent from the same period a year earlier, while emerging market revenues were up 14 percent, with an increase of 19 percent in China.
Basic earnings per share climbed 55% to $ 1.63, beating analysts’ average estimate of $ 1.48.
