| AstraZeneca 4Q Profit Rises 17 Percent
AstraZeneca PLC said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit rose 17 percent, boosted by strong sales of its top five products and cost cutting. But the company said its focus remained on strengthening its weak pipeline of future drugs. The company, which is facing patent challenges and escalating generic competition, also said that it plans to cut 3,000 jobs over the next three years despite predicting continued sales momentum this year. Net profit for the three months to Dec. 31 was $1.4 billion, up from $1.2 billion a year earlier, AstraZeneca said. Revenue rose 14 percent to $7.2 billion. For the full year, profit rose 28.5 percent to $6.04 billion, while sales lifted 11 percent to $26.8 billion. The 2006 results were driven by a 23 percent increase in combined sales of its five key products -- heartburn drug Nexium, schizophrenia treatment Seroquel, cholesterol-lowering treatment Crestor, asthma drug Symbicort and breast cancer treatment Arimidex -- to $13.3 billion.
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AstraZeneca Reports Profit Up 17 Percent; To Cut 3000 Jobs
New York, NY (AHN) - Drugmaker AstraZeneca will cut 3,000 jobs despite a new financial report which shows profit was up 17 percent in the fourth quarter. The cuts, which represent only 4.6 percent of its global workforce, will occur within the company's supply unit, and will be phased in over the next three years. AstraZeneca posted its latest earnings report, reading profits were up to $1.43 billion on a 14 percent growth in sales, which reached $7.15 billion worldwide. One of the key elements in the company's sales growth was its cholesterol drug, Crestor, which say sales skyrocket 73 percent. Sales of its heartburn drug, Nexium, were also up a respectable 13 percent.
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