Flush FTSE 100 giant Astrazeneca to give more back to shareholders with dividend hike
Pharmaceutical giant Astrazeneca has upped its dividend, citing confidence in future performance.
The company, London’s second-largest listed entity, said today that it would increase its annual dividend for the year by $0.20 (16p) to $3.10 (£2.47) per share, a progression in line with company policy.
This, the company said, already takes into account other previously announced capital commitments.
Michel Demaré, Astrazeneca’s chairman, said: “The board is delighted to announce a seven per cent increase to the dividend, taking it to $3.10 per share.
“This uplift is in line with our progressive dividend policy, which remains unchanged, and reflects the continuing strength of Astrazeneca’s investment proposition for shareholders.“
The Cambridge-based, £165bn-strong behemoth is one of the shining stars of the UK market, with its stock up 78 per cent in the last five years.
Last year, the company reported a gross profit of more than $37.5bn (£29.9bn), up from $32bn (£25bn) in 2022. Its profit before tax was $6.8bn (£5.4bn), an increase from $2.5bn (£1.9bn).
But despite the gains, a cool £7.6bn was wiped off its market capitalisation when it reported its results in February, as the share price fell five per cent in early morning trading.
Astrazeneca even got a mention in the Chancellor’s Spring Budget speech last month, where he announced the firm’s intention to commit £650m to fund the growth of UK science and technology projects.
The pharmaceuticals giant will expand its footprint on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and fund building a vaccine manufacturing hub in Speke in Liverpool.
More recently, the firm has been on a mission to expand its scientific expertise through mergers and acquisitions.
This has seen it spend a total of $3.5bn (£2.8bn) on the acquisitions of rare disease biotech firm Amolyt Pharma and Canada-based Fusion Pharmaceuticals.