CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) shares are having yet another day to forget on Wednesday.
In morning trade, the biotechnology giant's shares are down 12% to a multi-year low of $150.16.
Investors have been selling the company's shares after Australia's bluest blue-chip became a shambles by announcing the sudden exit of its CEO the night before its half-year results.
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CSL shares crash on results and CEO exit
Let's start with the CEO exit. As we covered here yesterday, CSL shocked the market by announcing that Dr Paul McKenzie was retiring after a disastrous three years in the role.
The company advised that effective today, highly experienced former CSL senior executive and non-executive director Gordon Naylor has been appointed interim CEO and managing director.
CSL's chair, Dr Brian McNamee AO, said:
Paul and the Board have determined that now is the right time for new leadership to continue to drive CSL's strategic transformation and performance.
Results
Putting further pressure on CSL shares was the release of half-year results that were disappointing.
The company posted underlying NPATA of US$1.9 billion, which was down 7% on the prior corresponding period. This profit decline reflects a number of factors such as government policy changes and one-off charges. 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.
What were the drivers of the result?
The company's key CSL Behring business had a disappointing half. It reported a 7% decline in revenue to US$5.5 billion. This reflects a 6% decline in immunoglobulins revenue due partly to Medicare Part D reforms.
The CSL Seqirus business posted total revenue of US$1.6 billion, down 2% on the prior corresponding period. This was driven by non-recurring avian influenza outbreak revenue in FY 2025.
Finally, the CSL Vifor business posted a 12% increase in total revenue to US$1.2 billion. This was driven by growth in nephrology, partially offset by a decline in iron due to competition from generic products.
Outlook
One positive is that management has reaffirmed its guidance for the full year. It continues to target approximately 2% to 3% revenue growth and 4% to 7% NPATA growth at constant currency. This excludes one-off restructuring costs and impairments. It stated:
The Company has an ambitious growth plan for the second half and maintains its guidance for the 2026 financial year of approximately 2-3% growth in revenue and 4-7% growth in NPATA, excluding one-off restructuring costs and impairments, at constant currency. For CSL Behring, second-half growth is expected to be driven by Ig, albumin and newly launched products.
In addition, the company will be buying back more CSL shares. It advised that its share buy-back has been expanded from US$500 million to US$750 million, reflecting its strong balance sheet and cash flow.
