Shares in AstraZeneca were down nearly 4% on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday morning after reporting its latest financial results.
The Anglo-Swedish biopharmaceutical company reported $45.8bn (around €41.7bn) in revenue for the financial year 2023 and highlighted strong sales for its cancer drug.
It also posted gross profit of more than $37.5bn (around €34bn), up from $32bn (around €29bn) in 2022.
The results were driven by oncology drugs, which made up more than a third of sales reported.
Why AstraZeneca stock is down
However, the news failed to cheer investors with the company’s stock down 3.76%, at the time of writing. Analysts had expected higher core operating profits despite revenue beating estimates.
Its latest earnings results come as the group enters the race to develop an obesity drug.
As previously reported by Euronews Business, AstraZeneca announced a multi-billion dollar deal last year to produce the new drug with Chinese biopharmaceutical company Eccogene.
The deal provides that AstraZeneca will pay $1.825bn to Eccogene “in future clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestones”.
Demand falls for Covid-19 vaccine
The company became a household name during the Covid-19 pandemic when it produced one of the first vaccines to be approved on the market. However, demand for its vaccine has declined as cases have eased.
“We expect another year of strong growth in 2024, driven by continued adoption of our medicines across geographies. Our differentiated and growing portfolio of approved medicines, global reach and rich R&D pipeline give us confidence that we will continue to deliver industry-leading growth,” Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca, said in a statement following the financial update.