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ARTICLE | Financial News

AstraZeneca misses Street, discloses government investigations

November 1, 2013 1:02 AM UTC

AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NYSE:AZN) announced 3Q13 earnings on Thursday that missed the Street and disclosed two government investigations. The pharma also named Marc Dunoyer as CFO, replacing Simon Lowth, who departed. Dunoyer joined AstraZeneca in June as EVP of global portfolio and strategy. He is the former global head of rare diseases at GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE:GSK; NYSE:GSK).

Third quarter revenues were $6.3 billion, missing the Street's $6.5 billion estimate and off 4% from $6.7 billion in 3Q12. The pharma said about $350 million of the decline was due to the loss of patent exclusivity for a number of drugs. Revenues for cardiovascular drug Crestor rosuvastatin fell 11% in 3Q13 to $1.4 billion due to a decline in prescriptions and inventory destocking. Core EPS in the quarter was $1.21, just below the Street's $1.25 estimate and off 26% from $1.68 in the prior year's quarter. AstraZeneca said it continues to expect a mid- to high-single digit decline in 2013 revenue compared to 2012. AstraZeneca also expects core EPS to decline at a significantly higher rate than the decline in revenue in 2013. Revenues in 2012 were $28 billion. All percentage changes are at constant exchange rates. ...