Business Quick Take
AstraZeneca upbeat on profit
AstraZeneca PLC Thursday forecast revenue growth for this year after the COVID-19 vaccine developer beat analysts’ estimates for fourth-quarter product sales, as a wide range of therapies helped cushion the hit from the pandemic. It expects this year’s revenues to increase by a low teens percentage, with “faster growth” in core earnings to US$4.75 to US$5 per share. Quarterly product sales of US$7.01 billion surpassed a company-compiled consensus of US$6.81 billion. The London-listed company said its forecast did not include any impact from its COVID-19 vaccine.
BANKING
Commerzbank sees shrinkage
Commerzbank AG said it will probably see revenue shrink “slightly” this year as it embarks on its third restructuring effort in five years under a new leadership. Revenue in the last three months of last year declined 6.6 percent, according to an earnings release yesterday. It recorded a quarterly loss of 2.7 billion euros (US$3.3 billion) after writing down asset values hit by the pandemic and booking costs for future job cuts. “We want to be sustainably profitable and shape our own destiny as an independent force in the German banking market,” chief executive Manfred Knof said.