LONDON (AFP) - Anglo-Swedish drugs giant AstraZeneca reported a 14 percent rise in third quarter pre-tax profit and said it was on track to hit earnings estimates for the full year.
Profit before tax rose to 1.27 billion dollars (1.01 billion euros) in the three months to September 30 compared with 1.12 billion dollars in the same period a year earlier.
Third-quarter sales came in at 5.27 billion dollars, compared with 4.80 billion in the corresponding period in 2003. Analysts concensus was for sales of between 5.38 and 5.40 billion dollars.
Sales outside the United States increased by 8.0 percent while within the country, sales rose 6.0 percent.
AstraZeneca said it had yet to settle on a future strategy for Exanta, the anti-clotting drug recently knocked back by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), citing safety concerns.
No "firm conclusions" on the drug had yet been reached, the group's chief financial officer Jon Symonds told reporters over a conference call.
"We are still progressing with a number of options," he said Thursday.
Group operating profit meanwhile rose by 15 percent in the third quarter to 1.261 billion dollars from 1.101 billion.
"Despite the recent disappointment with Exanta, the business is performing well in the second half," chief executive Tom McKillop said in a statement accompanying the results.
"A continuing strong performance in the fourth quarter should yield full year pre-exceptional earnings of around 2.10 dollars per share, and will provide an effective platform for growth in 2005," he added.
A breakdown of AstraZeneca's third-quarter sales showed that revenue from its ulcer drug Nexium fell by 6.0 percent, with a 34-percent increase in sales outside the United States more than offsetting the 17-percent decline in the country.
The disappointing US performance was the result of pharmacy's building up large stockpiles of Nexium earlier in the year, AstraZeneca said.