Yahoo Finance AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript
AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript April 25, 2024
AstraZeneca PLC misses on earnings expectations. Reported EPS is $1.03 EPS, expectations were $1.22. AstraZeneca PLC isn’t one of the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds at the end of the third quarter (see the details here).
Operator: Good morning to those joining from the U.K. and the U.S. Good afternoon to those in Central Europe, and good evening to those listening in Asia. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to AstraZeneca's First Quarter Results 2024 Webinar for Investors and Analysts. Before I hand over to AstraZeneca, I'd like to read the safe harbor statement. The company intends to utilize the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Participants on this call may make forward-looking statements with respect to the operations and financial performance of AstraZeneca. Although we believe our expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, by their very nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and may be influenced by factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
Any forward-looking statements made on this call reflect the knowledge and information available at the time of this call. The company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements. Please also carefully review the forward-looking statements disclaimer in the slide deck that accompanies this presentation and webinar. There will be an opportunity to ask questions after today's presentation. Please use the raise a hand feature to indicate you wish to ask a question, and remember to unmute your line when invited to speak. And with that, I'll now hand you over to the company.
Andy Barnett: A warm welcome to AstraZeneca's first quarter 2024 presentation conference call and webcast. I'm Andy Barnett, Head of Investor Relations at AstraZeneca. And before I hand over to Pascal and other members of the executive team, I would like to cover some important housekeeping points. Firstly, all of the materials presented today are available on our website. This slide contains our safe harbor statement, which I'd encourage you to take the time to read. We will be making comments on our performance using constant exchange rates or CER, core financial numbers and other non-GAAP measures. A non-GAAP to GAAP reconciliation is contained within the results announcement. All numbers quoted are in millions of U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated.
This shows the agenda for today's call. And following our prepared remarks, we will open the line for questions. As usual, we will try and address as many questions as we can during the allotted time, although I would ask participants to limit the number of questions you ask to allow others a fair chance to participate in the Q&A. And with that, Pascal, I will hand over to you.
Pascal Soriot: Thank you, Andy. Good day, everybody. I'm pleased to report that we have made a very strong start in 2024. Total revenue grew by 19% in the first quarter, reflecting continued strong demand and core earnings per share rose by 13%, sorry. Recall, the first quarter of 2023 benefited from a $240 million gain in other operating income following the divestment of PULMICORT FLEXHALER in the U.S. Collaboration revenue and other operating income were minimal this quarter, which makes the EPS year-over-year growth all the more impressive. We're also pleased to announce an increase in the annual dividend of 7% at the Annual General Meeting earlier this month. This increase is in line with our progressive dividend policy and reflects the continuing strengths of AstraZeneca's investment proposition for shareholders.
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