LONDON (AP) -- Drug maker AstraZeneca PLC is warning of a tough year ahead as it reports a 24 percent increase in 2011 profits.
The Anglo-Swedish company said Thursday that profit for the year ending Dec. 31 was $10 billion, up from $8.1 billion a year earlier. The profit advance was helped heavily by a $1.5 billion gain from the sale of a dental unit.
The company said revenue this year will be hit by government interventions on prices, generic competition and the loss of exclusivity for Seroquel IR, a drug for the treatment of depression, and hypertension drug Atacand in global markets.
AstraZeneca shares opened 2 percent lower in London.
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