Treatments for cancer give Astra shot in arm

ASTRAZENECA hailed the success of new drugs and strong performance in China as it returned to sales growth for the first time in a decade.

Sales rose 5pc to £4.5bn in the final three months of 2018, bringing the total figure for the year to £16.4bn.

It was vindication of a strategy under Pascal Soriot to develop lucrative new medicines.

When he arrived in 2013, Astra faced a series of expiring drug patents that threatened a ‘cliff edge’ for sales. But the chief executive focused efforts on new blockbuster cancer drugs, and analysts are predicting a period of rapid growth.

Success in China saw sales there rise 25pc in the year. Profits for the year were down 7pc to £2.6bn, but the firm said this would improve as its momentum in sales continued.

Shares leapt 7.5pc, or 428p, to 6149p, putting them on track for their best day in 18 months.

Soriot, 59, said: ‘This is a very exciting time for us. We’re now back to growth.

‘We have made enormous progress and we now have a very strong pipeline, which of course we need to turn into sales growth and profit improvements.