AstraZeneca Forecasts Lower Profit Amid Generic Pressure
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AstraZeneca Plc forecast profit this year will decline “significantly more than revenue” as the U.K.’s second-biggest drugmaker faces increasing competition from lower-priced generic medicines.
Sales will fall by a “mid- to high-single digit percentage” at constant exchange rates in 2013, the London-based company said today in a statement. Analysts had estimated a decline of about 3 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company also said earnings fell for a fourth straight quarter and left the annual dividend unchanged. The stock fell the most in nine months.