FAQs

As at 31 December 2023, we employed approximately 89,900 people:

• 38% emerging markets
• 35% Europe
• 20% US
• 7% in Established Rest of World

Further details on employee can be found on page 33 of the latest Annual Report. Further details on the market definitions used can be found on page 232 of the latest Annual Report.

The total number of shares in issue as at 31 December 2023 was 1,550,162,626.

AstraZeneca PLC publishes its total number of voting rights each month. These notifications can be found in the Stock exchange announcements.

AstraZeneca is traded on the London, Stockholm and Nasdaq exchanges. The symbol is AZN in all three markets.

AstraZeneca adheres to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and International Accounting Standards (IAS) with appropriate conversion to US GAAP being shown in our financial statements.

Please visit our Debt Investors page for details of AstraZeneca’s current debt rating.

046353108.

AstraZeneca reports in US dollars.

AstraZeneca was formed on 6 April 1999 through the merger of Astra AB of Sweden and Zeneca PLC of the United Kingdom.

This information can be found in the financial results section.

For information on dividends, please see the Dividends section of the FAQs.

Dividend policy

During 2021, AstraZeneca announced that from September 2021 the Company would stop making dividend payments by way of cheque. Dividends will only be paid by electronic methods.

Removal of cheques has a number of benefits. There is a positive environmental benefit through the reduction in dividend stationary. Shareholders also benefit from increased payment security and faster receipt of funds when payments are made electronically. In addition, the removal of cheque payments reduces administration for both AstraZeneca and shareholders, and also reduces costs.

Shareholders will need to provide a bank mandate to receive their dividend payment directly into a bank or building society account. 

Holders of Ordinary Shares should contact Equiniti on +44 371 384 2030 (International), 0371 384 2030 (UK) or through the online enquiry form on the Equiniti website. 

ADR holders should contact Equiniti Trust Company, LLC on (888) 697 8018 (toll-free if calling within the US) or +1 718 921 8137 (International) or by email at adr@equiniti.com

Holders of shares traded on Stockholm Nasdaq should contact Euroclear on +46 (0) 8 402 9000. 

At present AstraZeneca does not have a dividend re-investment plan for Ordinary shareholders. Registered American Depositary Receipt holders may elect to have dividends reinvested via the DB Global Direct program. Please contact Equiniti Trust Company, LLC for further details on +1 888 697 8018.

Please visit our dividend policy.

AstraZeneca pays the dividend in the currency corresponding to where the shares are listed.

Holders of Ordinary Shares listed in London may be able to use Equiniti’s Overseas Payment Service to receive the dividend in a currency other than GBP. Holders of Ordinary Shares should contact Equiniti on +44 371 384 2030 (International), 0371 384 2030 (UK) or through the online enquiry form on the Equiniti website.

This will depend on where your shares are held:

If your shares are held by a broker or nominee please contact them directly.

If you are a registered shareholder please contact the following:

Holders of Ordinary Shares should contact Equiniti on +44 371 384 2030 (International), 0371 384 2030 (UK) or through the online enquiry form on the Equiniti website.

ADR holders should contact Equiniti Trust Company, LLC on (888) 697 8018 (toll-free if calling within the US) or +1 718 921 8137 (International) or by email at adr@equiniti.com

Holders of shares traded on Stockholm Nasdaq should contact Euroclear on +46 (0) 8 402 9000. 

Please follow the link below to a summary of dividends paid in the form of Syngenta shares.

View UK cost basis information (opens in a new window).

Please follow the link below to a summary of dividends paid in the form of Syngenta shares.

View US cost basis information (opens in a new window).

View a letter to Astra AB shareholders (opens in a new window).

A legal representative, Peter Haglund, has been appointed to act on behalf of minority shareholders. He can be contacted at Advokatfirman Sodermark, Box 14055, SE 104 40 Stockholm, Sweden, telephone +46 8 670 57 50 and fax +46 8 663 67 20.

On 6 April 1999 (the first trading day of AstraZeneca PLC) the closing price was GBP 29.46.

Shares in Zeneca Group PLC acquired on demerger from ICI will be treated as having a base cost for capital gains tax purposes ascertained by reference to the values of Zeneca and ICI shares on 1 June 1993 calculated in accordance with the provisions of Section 272 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992. The base cost of any holding of ICI Shares on that date will be adjusted on the same basis.

The relevant prices on The London Stock Exchange on 1 June 1993 were:

Zeneca - 625.75p and ICI - 631.75p

The base cost of the pre-merger ICI Shares were therefore split between the post-demerger Zeneca and ICI Shares in the following proportions:

Zeneca - 0.49761 and ICI - 0.50239

Astra AB and Zeneca Group PLC shares were merged on 6th April 1999.
1 Astra share : 0.5045 AstraZeneca share
1 Zeneca share : 1 AstraZeneca share

AstraZeneca demerged its agrochemical business on 13 November 2000.

In the US, AstraZeneca’s Ordinary Shares are traded in the form of American Depositary Shares (ADSs), evidenced by American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), which are traded on Nasdaq under ticker symbol AZN. An ADS is a US dollar denominated form of equity ownership representing AstraZeneca’s underlying Ordinary Shares on deposit in the United Kingdom, and it confers the rights arising out of the underlying Ordinary Share including the right to vote at and attend general meetings of AstraZeneca and the right to receive dividends in US dollars.

Historically one ADS has been equal to one Ordinary Share of AstraZeneca, a 1:1 ratio.

On 27 July 2015, a ratio change was effected so that two ADSs became equal to one Ordinary Share, a ratio of 2:1. ADS holders on the record date at the close of business on 22 July 2015 New York time received a distribution of one additional ADS for every one ADS held. No action was required by you to effect this change. These changes brought the AstraZeneca ADS price broadly in line with the market average and, as the ADS price reduced, it is thought that  the shares should be more attractive to individual shareholders and liquidity improved.

The number of ADSs that were registered in your name at the close of business on 22 July 2015 New York time were doubled. While it is not possible to isolate the effect of the ratio change on the price of AstraZeneca’s ADSs from all the factors that affect the price, it is believed that the immediate effect was a reduction in price to approximately one-half of that prevailing immediately before the ratio change. The reduction in price, when coupled with the doubling of the ADSs held in your name should leave the value of your holding approximately the same immediately after, as it had been immediately before, the ratio change.

Following the ADS ratio change in July 2015, each ADS represents half an underlying Ordinary Share. Each ADS held on the dividend record date will  therefore receive half of the dividend rate declared per Ordinary Share. 

No. The ratio change should have no US federal income tax implications for ADS holders, except that such holders should allocate to each additional ADS half of the holder’s tax basis in the original ADS with respect to which the additional ADS was received. If you hold ADSs as capital assets for US federal income tax purposes, your holding period for an additional ADS for capital gains tax purposes should include your holding period for the existing ADS with respect to which the additional ADS is received.

Yes, beginning with the second interim dividend paid on 23 March 2015, holders of American Depositary Shares (ADSs) will be charged a total of $0.03 (3 cents) per ADS annually to cover costs related to the ADS programme. A fee of $0.01 (1 cent) will be deducted from the first interim dividend which is typically announced with second quarter and half year results and paid in September each year, and a fee of $0.02 (2 cents) will be deducted from the second interim dividend which is typically announced with fourth quarter and full year results and paid in March each year. 

A large majority of dividend-paying FTSE100 companies that have an ADR/ADS programme charge dividend fees. AstraZeneca's dividend fee as a percentage of its dividends declared in respect of 2022 ($1.45 per ADR) was 2.1% compared to the FTSE100 sponsored ADR average of 6.5%

A ‘Boiler Room’ fraud may take different forms but typically involves the use of high-pressure sales techniques and the promise of opportunities that appear too good to be true. AstraZeneca shareholders may be targeted by unsolicited phone calls or correspondence from ‘brokers’ who are often based overseas concerning investments and promising high financial returns. Unfortunately, the high profits promised never materialise and shareholders are often left significantly out of pocket. The ‘brokers’ are often both persistent and extremely persuasive with even experienced investors falling victim to the scams.  This type of fraud is called ‘boiler room’ fraud because of the high pressure sales techniques used by the ‘brokers’.  Around 5,000 people contact the Financial Conduct Authority (the ‘FCA’) each year regarding share fraud with victims losing an average of £20,000.

AstraZeneca shareholders are advised to be extremely cautious of any unsolicited approaches offering advice, free reports and offers to buy shares at a discount or sell at an inflated price.

In the event that you receive unsolicited contact regarding an investment opportunity the FCA offers the following advice, full details of which can be found on their website:

• Reject any cold calls
• Take the name of the person that has contacted you along with the full name and address of the organisation which they purport to work for
• Check that the firm is correctly authorised by searching the FCA Register. The FCA strongly advise that individuals should only deal with financial services firms that are properly authorised by the FCA. You should verify the call using the contact details provided on the FCA Register
• If you deal with an unauthorised firm you will not be eligible to receive payment under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme or have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service
• Check whether the firm appears on the FCA Warning List
• Seek impartial advice from a financial adviser before you make an investment
• If a firm does not appear on the FCA Register or you are told by the ‘broker’ that the details are out of date contact the FCA on 0800 111 6768 or use the FCA reporting form which can be found here

If you believe that you have already paid money to share fraudsters you should contact ActionFraud on +44(0)300 123 2040.

Where can I find further information?

Further information on Boiler Room and share frauds can be found on the FCA website and on the ActionFraud website.

Further information on Boiler Room and share frauds can be found on the FCA website and on the Action Fraud website.

AstraZeneca PLC have appointed ProSearch Asset Solutions (ProSearch), a specialist tracing company to run an asset reunification programme with the aim of reuniting 'lost' shareholders or their estates with outstanding cash and share entitlements.

There are various reasons why cash entitlements may not have been cashed by shareholders. The most common reasons are:

• shareholder not notifying the Registrar of a change of address
• beneficiaries or executors of an estate not being aware of the holding
• shareholders who simply forget about their shareholdings

For security reasons, and in line with the Company’s articles, shareholdings may have been recorded as ‘gone-away’ from the address held on the share register, and subsequent correspondence is withheld to prevent possible fraud.

ProSearch is a member of the Equiniti Group. They specialise in the research, identification and the reuniting of assets. ProSearch has over 30 years of experience in the provision of Asset Reunification solutions and has worked with many FTSE 100 and 250 companies on similar projects.

You can view their website at www.prosearchassets.com

ProSearch may have sent a letter or verification form. Please read these carefully and follow the instructions provided, which may include returning a verification form along with any necessary documents.

If you need to speak to anyone, the contact details can be found on the letter or form sent to you. The contact details can also be found below.

This service is voluntary. This is a search and identification service designed to trace shareholders and return lost entitlements as efficiently as possible. In the process of operating a programme to trace lost shareholders, ProSearch incurs costs including data subject analysis, mailings, identity confirmation, form validation, and a free helpline.

If you wish to make your own arrangements to recover your assets, you can contact our share registrar, Equiniti. Please be aware that there may also be charges for the services provided by Equiniti.

Telephone: 0371 384 2776 (or +44 (0)371 384 2776 from outside the UK)

Calls are monitored/recorded to meet regulatory obligations and for training and quality purposes. Lines are open from 8.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday (excluding UK public holidays in England and Wales).

Email: info@prosearchassets.com

Website: www.prosearchassets.com

Address: ProSearch, Sutherland House, Russell Way, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 1UH

ProSearch Asset Solutions Limited is registered in England and Wales number 2158381 and is a member of the Equiniti Group. Registered Office: Aspect House, Spencer Road, Lancing, West Sussex, United Kingdom BN99 6DA.