CSL earnings preview: what to watch out for from its FY19 release

When is CSL’s results date?

The global biotechnology company will release its 2019 full-year results on Wednesday August 14.

CSL full-year results preview

CSL Ltd, the A$99.8 billion biotechnology company has been a strong performer year-to-date, seeing its share price rise 17% since January.

The company’s solid share price momentum has been underpinned by impressive business growth and improved FY19 guidance.

In the first-half of 2019, the biotech giant saw its revenue hit $4.5 billion, an 11% increase year-over-year.

These results were driven by good demand for a number of the company’s cornerstone products, including ‘Immunoglobulin, Specialty Products and Influenza.’

CSL’s stellar top-line growth had a positive knock-on effect on the company’s profitability. Here, CSL saw its earnings after tax and earnings per share (EPS) both grow by 10% in the 2019 first-half.

Investors will likely be keen to see this upward momentum continue when CSL announces their full-year results next week.

Off the back of these strong profits, CSL issued investors a interim dividend of $0.85 cents per share – a 8% increase on the interim dividend from the year prior.

CSL share price outlook in focus

The outlook appears good for the biotechnology giant, with CSL Ltd noting that demand remains robust for its core therapies. Speaking of the 2019 full-year outlook, CSL’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Perreault, previously remarked that:

‘CSL’s net profit after tax for FY19 would be in the range of approximately $1,880 to $1,950 million at constant currency. We now anticipate the profit figure to be around the upper end of this range.’

With good half-year results, and now an upgraded earnings outlook, investors will likely be keen to see CSL meet these increased expectations when the company reports its FY19 results next week.

Accordingly, the share price has the potential to come under pressure from investors in the wake of its full-year results if these expectations are not met.

Risks and analysts' estimates

Though CSL has guided profits higher for FY19, the company’s Seqirus product – an important influenza vaccine, has lagged.

Here the company flagged that while Seqirus:

‘Is tracking to plan but due to the seasonability of this business we anticipate it to post a loss in the second half of the fiscal year.'

Finally, though CSL trades ahead of the market – in terms of its price to earnings ratio – the biotechnology giant retains an overweight analyst consensus, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Of the 13 analysts covering the stock, seven rate it as a buy while six rate it as a sell.