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CSL half-year earnings: profit drops but guidance reaffirmed

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The CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) share price is in focus today after reporting underlying NPATA of US$1.9 billion, down 7% on the prior period, with total revenue falling 4% to US$8.3 billion.

What did CSL report?

  • Total revenue: US$8.3 billion, down 4% (constant currency)
  • Underlying NPATA: US$1.9 billion, down 7%
  • Reported NPAT: US$401 million, down 81%
  • Interim dividend: US$1.30 per share (steady year-on-year)
  • Cash flow from operations: US$1.3 billion, up 3%
  • Share buy-back expanded from US$500 million to US$750 million

What else do investors need to know?

CSL’s first-half results were weighed down by government policy changes, one-off restructuring costs, and asset impairments of around US$1.1 billion, mainly relating to CSL Vifor and CSL Seqirus. Despite these headwinds, transformation programs achieved around 60% of targeted cost savings for FY26, driven by simplifying operations and reducing R&D and infrastructure expenses.

The company announced a US$1.5 billion expansion of its US plasma manufacturing and highlighted strong revenue growth in CSL Vifor (up 12%). However, CSL Behring’s revenue declined 7%, and Seqirus faced a dip following non-recurring avian influenza revenue last year.

What did CSL management say?

CSL’s Chief Financial Officer Ken Lim said:

We are clearly not satisfied with our performance and have implemented a number of initiatives to drive stronger growth going forward. Our first-half results were also adversely impacted by a number of factors including government policy changes, one-off restructuring costs and impairments. In the second half we have an ambitious growth plan, driven by immunoglobulin (Ig), albumin and our newly launched products. We continued to advance our broader transformation strategy, making strong progress on our cost‑efficiency initiatives and strengthening the foundations of the business. We invested in growth opportunities including our strategic collaboration with VarmX. This will deliver enhanced growth, profitability and shareholder returns.

What’s next for CSL?

CSL has reaffirmed its FY26 guidance for 2–3% revenue growth and 4–7% NPATA growth, excluding one-off items and at constant currency. The second half is expected to benefit from growth in immunoglobulin, albumin, and new products. Seqirus will see lower contributions due to flu seasonality, while Vifor’s growth may be offset by continued generic competition.

Management remains focused on transformation and efficiency, with more than half the targeted cost savings for FY26 already achieved. Initiatives such as expanding manufacturing capacity and investing in innovative collaborations are intended to position CSL for longer-term value creation.

CSL share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the CSL shares have declined 33%, trailing the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which has risen 5% over the same period.

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The post CSL half-year earnings: profit drops but guidance reaffirmed appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Laura Stewart has positions in CSL. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips. This article was prepared with the assistance of Large Language Model (LLM) tools for the initial summary of the company announcement. Any content assisted by AI is subject to our robust human-in-the-loop quality control framework, involving thorough review, substantial editing, and fact-checking by our experienced writers and editors holding appropriate credentials. The Motley Fool Australia stands behind the work of our editorial team and takes ultimate responsibility for the content published by The Motley Fool Australia.

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