AstraZeneca surprises the market and doubles net income in the first quarter of 2021. For the first time, the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company also discloses the turnover of the vaccine, whose sales have reached $ 275 million, exceeding analysts' expectations. The results are pushing up the title which on the London Stock Exchange gains 4,24% to 7.715 pounds.
Going into details, in the first three months of 2021, the net profit of AstraZeneca has reached 1,56 billion dollars, double the 780 million recorded in the same period last year. L'operating profit instead it stood at 1,9 billion dollars from 1,22 billion in the first quarter of 2020, while earnings per share it was $1,18 for the quarter, compared to $0,59 for the same quarter in 2020.
Also up sharply global sales, which grew to 7,32 billion from 6,45 in the previous year. To contribute to the result too sales of the anti-Covid-19 vaccine which in the first three months of the year reached 275 million dollars for 68 million vaccine doses (about 4 dollars per dose). Only in Europe, $224 million of vaccines were sold, while sales totaled $43 million in emerging markets and $8 million in the rest of the world. However, AstraZeneca stressed that there will be no profit from this front during the pandemic.
The quarterly sales of the oncological drug Tagrisso also increased sharply (+17% to 1,15 billion), while the revenues of the heart and diabetes drug Farxiga jumped to 625 million dollars.
“We expect the impact of Covid to herald an acceleration of performance in the second half of 2021,” he said.or CEO Pascal Soriot.
