FiercePharma says: As Seroquel lawsuits pile up, AstraZeneca's profits have fallen 27 percent to $1.55 billion. The company has set aside $473 million for Seroquel payments and another $212 million for restructuring. It did pick up a 20 percent increase in Crestor sales, to $1.37 billion. Seroquel and Nexium will both face patent expirations in the next four years, putting pressure on Crestor and the rest of the company's pipeline to perform.

Highlights

• Business EPS was up 8.6% in Q3 2010 on a reported basis and down 2.3% at CER
• Core operating profit in the third quarter was down 10 percent at CER to $3.231 million
• Core EPS in the third quarter was down 10 percent at CER to $1.50
• Reported EPS in the third quarter was down 26 percent at CER to $1.08
• Net cash distributions to shareholders for the nine months increased to $4.658 million through dividend payments of $3.361 million and net share repurchases of $1.297 million
• Core EPS target for the full year narrowed to the range of $6.50 to $6.65

See AstraZeneca's current stock quote from CNN Money

AstraZeneca's website: http://www.astrazeneca.com/
Full earnings release: AstraZeneca earnings release

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