AZ blames IT problems for production backup

Generic drugs took a huge bite out of pharma giant AstraZeneca's ($AZN) sales in the most recent quarter, yet the London-based company also expects to take a 1% haircut off its annual revenue this year because of problems with its new IT system at a plant in Södartälje, Sweden. The IT issues, which the company didn't describe in detail, took a toll on production at the facility. Interim CEO Simon Lowth broke the bad news during a conference call that "... supply issues reduced our growth rate in emerging markets from around 8% down to 1%." He said production is now ramped up beyond normal levels to fill back orders and ongoing demand, but estimated "the revenue impact for the full year to be around 1%." Article