Drugs giant AstraZeneca has unveiled soaring full-year profits but announced plans for 3,000 job cuts. The Anglo-Swedish group said its net profits jumped 28.3% to $6.06bn (�3.1bn) in 2006, on sales of $26.8bn.
However, at the same time, the firm said it planned to cut 3,000 jobs worldwide over the next three years.
AstraZeneca has been facing increasing competition from companies producing cheaper generic versions of some of its top drugs once their patents expire.
The company was hit in October after a key stroke treatment it had been developing failed a clinical trial.
Sales momentum
AstraZeneca said it planned to increasingly focus on boosting the development of future drugs.
"We are determined to maintain the sales momentum of our current product portfolio and to continue to build a pipeline to sustain our growth," said chief executive David Brennan.
AstraZeneca said its strong full-year results had been boosted by sales of five key products, heartburn drug Nexium, schizophrenia treatment Seroquel, cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor, asthma drug Symbicort and breast cancer treatment Arimidex.
In lunchtime trading on the London Stock Exchange, shares in AstraZeneca were quoted up 95 pence, or 3.35%, at �29.35.
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