AstraZeneca shares 6% lower than a year ago despite Covid vaccine

Whether it is because of the firm’s breakthrough Covid-19 jab or its row with the EU, AstraZeneca has seemingly been in the headlines constantly during the pandemic. 

In the long run that looks to have done little for the British drugs giant’s share price, however, which is now trading 6 per cent lower than a year ago. 

Astra is due to report its full-year results on Thursday and investors will be keenly watching for updates on a number of fronts. It has agreed to supply its Covid vaccine, developed with Oxford University, at cost until the pandemic is over – so there will be questions about how that is defined and when it will start making a profit. 

Chief executive Pascal Soriot, who was accused of giving ‘vague’ answers by Brussels last week, is also certain to be asked about how efforts to tackle production problems in Belgium are going. 

Elsewhere, there are still misgivings about the company’s proposed £28billion takeover of US biotech firm Alexion, a cancer specialist that Soriot hopes will strengthen AZ’s footing in the potentially lucrative field of immunology. 

He has defended the deal but some analysts have suggested Astra overpaid and that now is not the time to be launching swashbuckling takeovers.

Closely-watched will be product sales, which have finally returned to growth thanks to blockbuster drugs in recent years, but may have been hit by hospital chaos during the pandemic and patients visiting doctors less often. 

Astra is expected to report fourth quarter sales of £5.2billion, up from £4.9billion the previous year, and a rise in profit from £175m to £867m.