Latest news with #PaulMcKenzie
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Falling US flu vaccine rates hurt Australia's CSL profit growth
By Christine Chen (Reuters) -Australian biopharmaceutical company CSL said on Tuesday that falling immunisation rates in the U.S., its largest market, weighed on its vaccine sales and first-half profit growth, sending its shares lower. CSL, the world's second-largest maker of flu vaccines, also warned that the trend of lower immunisation posed a public health risk for the U.S. Revenue at CSL's Seqirus vaccine unit fell 9% to $1.66 billion in the half-year ended December 31, 2024. CEO Paul McKenzie said post-COVID apathy among 18-to-64-year-olds in the U.S., as well as reduced vaccine access, had created a weak operating environment. "Performance has been negatively impacted by the significant decline in immunisation rates in the U.S.," he said on an earnings call. "The incidence of influenza and hospitalisation rates are up and this poses a significant public health risk." CSL's results come as U.S. President Donald Trump's health department nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a vaccine skeptic, nears confirmation in the Senate. The revenue of CSL Seqirus in the first half of the 2025 financial year was 15% below analysts' forecasts for the unit and also caused its earnings to miss expectations. Overall net profit rose 6% to $2.01 billion, driven by a 10% rise in revenue from CSL's main blood-plasma business Behring. But the profit was slightly below analysts' forecasts of $2.09 billion. CSL shares were 3.5% lower by midsession on Tuesday, against a flat overall market. RBC Capital Markets analyst Craig Wong-Pan said CSL's performance was weaker than expected and "raised questions of how the company can achieve its FY25 NPATA guidance". But CEO McKenzie said the performance of CSL's Behring and Vifor units would help push up full year profit between 10% and 13%, to a range of $3.2 billion to $3.3 billion. The Behring unit, which makes up around 70% of CSL's revenue, recorded a 15% jump in immunoglobulin sales to $3.17 billion, while its recently acquired iron deficiency and kidney disease division Vifor also improved sales and expanded its product offerings. The Vifor unit had previously weighed on earnings, struggling to compete with generic competition in Europe after being acquired in 2022 for $11.7 billion. Sign in to access your portfolio
Bloomberg
11-02-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
CSL 1H Profit Misses Estimates on Weak Vaccine Sales
CSL CEO Paul McKenzie has reiterated the company's revenue growth guidance, even after first-half net income of the world's second-largest manufacturer of influenza vaccines came below analysts' expectations. He speaks exclusively with Haidi Stroud-Watts on "Bloomberg: The China Show." (Source: Bloomberg)
Reuters
10-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Australia's CSL reports half-year profit jump on strong demand for immunoglobulin products
Feb 11 (Reuters) - Australia's biotech giant CSL Ltd ( opens new tab reported a 5% rise in its first-half profit on Tuesday, boosted by growth in its core immunoglobulin business across geographies, while low U.S. immunisation rates weighed on its influenza products unit. Strong underlying demand for CSL's immunoglobulin (Ig) products for the treatment of patients with chronic immune system disorders drove up sales. Total revenue from the company's largest division, Behring, for the six months ended December 31 rose 10% to $5.74 billion. CSL Behring includes the Ig products segment, whose sales grew 15% year over year. The Melbourne-based firm has been in the process of improving CSL Behring's gross profit margins by introducing the efficient "RIKA Plasma Donation System" technology across its plasma collection business. The company expects the RIKA roll-out to be completed across CSL Plasma by the end of the financial year, it said. Meanwhile, revenue for CSL Seqirus, the company's influenza-related products division, fell 9%. "CSL Seqirus was negatively impacted by significantly low influenza immunisation rates, particularly in the United States," CEO Paul McKenzie said. The firm said that its underlying net profit after tax attributable for the half year was $2.11 billion, on a constant currency basis, compared with $2.06 billion reported a year ago. On a reported currency basis, its profit was $2.07 billion, missing a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. CSL reassured investors that it continues to expect annualised double-digit earnings growth over the medium term. It declared an interim dividend of $1.30 per share, higher than $1.19 per share declared a year ago.
