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AstraZeneca PLC on Tuesday reported better-than-expected second quarter revenue, and raised its dividend, boosted by strong sales from its cancer portfolio. The Cambridge, England-based pharmaceuticals company said pretax profit jumped 30% to $3.13 billion in the second quarter of 2025 from $2.40 billion a year prior, or by 34% at constant currency. Revenue rose 12% to $14.46 billion in the quarter from $12.94 billion a year ago, or by 11% at constant currency, ahead of Visible Alpha consensus of $14.31 billion. Earnings per share rose 27% to $1.58 from $1.24 a year ago, or by 31% at constant currency. Core EPS rose 10% to $2.17 from $1.98 a year ago, or by 12% at constant currency, shy of VA consensus of $2.23. In response, shares in AstraZeneca, the FTSE 100’s biggest company by market value, were 1.4% higher at 10,939.87 pence each in London on Tuesday morning. The wider FTSE 100 was up 0.2%. For the half-year revenue increased 9.5% to $28.05 billion from $25.62 billion a year ago. Pretax profit jumped 26% to $6.53 billion from $5.20 billion, while diluted earnings per share surged 31% to $3.44 from $2.63. Sales were driven by double-digit growth in Oncology and BioPharmaceuticals with increases across all major geographic regions. AstraZeneca raised its interim dividend by 3.0% to $1.03 from $1.00 a year ago. Revenue for lung cancer drug Imfinzi was up 20%, while sales of breast cancer treatment Enhertu climbed 35% and non-small cell lung cancer product Tagrisso sales grew 9% from the prior year. Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot said: ‘Our strong momentum in revenue growth continued through the first half of the year and the delivery from our broad and diverse pipeline has been excellent, with 12 positive key Phase III trial readouts including for baxdrostat, gefurulimab, and Tagrisso in just the past few weeks.’ The firm reiterated its guidance for total revenue to increase by a high-single-digit percentage in 2025 and for core EPS to grow by a low-double-digit percentage. In 2024, AstraZeneca reported revenue of $54.07 billion and core EPS of $8.21. Soriot the ‘landmark’ $50 billion investment in the US reflects ‘our confidence in our innovative medicines to transform global health and power AstraZeneca’s ambition to deliver $80 billion revenue by 2030.’ Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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