AstraZeneca sales and earning down in 1st-qtr 2013, as patent cliff bites

Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) has reported first-quarter 2013 financial results with a 12% (constant exchange rate) decrease in revenues to $6.385 billion, below consensus expectations of $6.5 billion. The firm’s shares dipped 1.8% to £33.30 in early morning trading.

The sales decline was largely due to loss of exclusivity for Seroquel IR (quetiapine, sales plunged 60% to $449 million) and Atacand (candesartan cilexetil) in many markets, and for Crestor (rosuvastatin, sales down 11% to $1.32 billion, sales down 47% to $168 million) in Canada.

Core operating profit decreased 21% (CER) to $2.32 billion, or $1.41 per share (-21%), beating consensus forecasts of $1.37.Reported operating profit was $1.397 billion, or $0.81 (-31% CER). For full year 2013, the company continues to anticipate a mid-to-high single digit decline in revenue on a constant currency basis and expects core earnings per share to decline at a rate that is significantly higher than the decline in revenue in 2013.