AstraZeneca is moving higher ahead of its latest update due on Thursday, where analysts hope it may announce its new finance director.
The current incumbent, Simon Lowth, will leave after the announcement of the third quarter results to become finance director of BG Group (which happens to report figures on the same day).
Panmure Gordon analyst Savvas Neophytou said the figures themselves could well beat expectations and the unveiling of a new finance director would also be a positive move. He said:
We forecast revenues of $6.48bn, pretax profit of $2.16bn and core earnings per share of $1.39. The company provided consensus is for revenues of $6.35bn, pretax profit of $1.46bn and earnings per share of $1.24. Another trigger tomorrow might be the appointment of a new chief financial officer, with Simon Lowth's tenure coming to an end on 31 October. We do not expect an internal candidate to be announced.
We prefer an entry level closer to £30, but the shares seem attractive if we can see real signs of turnaround following a number of months of continuous downgrades.
Astra is currently 25.5p higher at £33.38.
