Off target

4 February 2016 By Neil Unmack Follow @unmack1

The UK pharma group may miss the earnings targets Chief Executive Pascal Soriot must meet to get his bonus. But it may adjust Soriot’s goal to reduce the effect of “dilutive” acquisitions. There’s logic to that, but Astra’s accounting gymnastics undermine its rigour on pay.

This content is for Subscribers only

Context News

Drugmaker AstraZeneca warned on Feb. 4 that revenue and earnings would drop this year due to the arrival of cheap generic rivals to its cholesterol fighter Crestor, which will offset growth in sales of newer medicines.

For the current year, AstraZeneca said that would mean a low to mid single-digit percentage decline in both revenue and core earnings per share, which exclude certain items, at constant exchange rates.

Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said AstraZeneca faced a “transitional period” due to the expiry of the U.S. patent for Crestor in May 2016, but the company was poised for a comeback.

The group’s shares had fallen 4.8 percent by 0940 GMT on Feb. 4.

Email a friend

Please complete the form below.

Required fields *