Drugmaker Astra appoints new CFO

AstraZeneca promoted Marc Dunoyer to be its new chief financial officer yesterday, plugging a gap in the drugmaker’s top management team as it grapples with falling sales and profits.

Dunoyer, 61, who joined from rival GlaxoSmithKline in June and currently heads portfolio and product strategy, will replace well-respected finance chief Simon Lowth, whose departure to join BG Group had been announced.

Hit by generic competition to key drugs, sales and profits at AstraZeneca continued to slide in the third quarter, underscoring the challenge facing chief executive Pascal Soriot, who has been in the job for just over a year.

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Lowth has been viewed as a steady hand on AstraZeneca’s finances and the appointment of Dunoyer, who lacks recent direct CFO responsibility, may concern some investors.

“AstraZeneca’s heavy income-focused investor base will likely be concerned over the news,” Citi analyst Andrew Baum said.

“While a very talented industry executive, in our view, investors could fear increased risk to near-term EPS (earnings per share).”

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