The CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) share price couldn't quite match the gains posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in the financial year we just said goodbye to.
Shares in the ASX 200 biotech stock closed out FY 2023 trading for $277.38. On 28 June, the final trading day of FY 2024, shares closed at $295.21 apiece.
That put the CSL share price up 6.4% for the full financial year, trailing the 7.8% gains posted by the ASX 200 over this same time.
Of course, that doesn't include the record $3.81 in partly franked dividends that CSL paid out over the year. If we add those back in, the ASX 200 biotech stock gained 7.8% in FY 2024, right in line with the benchmark index.
Here's what investors were considering over the past year.
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Headwinds and tailwinds for the CSL share price
Among the headwinds impacting the CSL share price in FY 2024 were the unsatisfactory trial results for its CSL112 product.
CSL112 is intended to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients following an acute myocardial infarction (AMI).
But the phase 3 AEGIS-II trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of CSL112 failed to meet the primary efficacy endpoint of MACE reduction at 90 days. This saw the ASX 200 biotech stock shelve its plans for a near-term regulatory filing.
However, CSL's head of R&D, Bill Mezzanotte, highlighted that the study had provided valuable insights and "enhanced capabilities".
Mezzanotte said on the day:
AEGIS-II is the most ambitious study in our company's history, and we are proud of the quality of the study we delivered and the enhanced capabilities we developed to do so.
We plan to apply these capabilities as well as our plasma protein platform to future unmet medical need in cardiovascular and metabolic conditions as well as those in our other strategic therapeutic areas.
The CSL share price closed down 4.8% on the day.
February also saw CSL report its half-year financial results. While investors had high expectations and didn't immediately reward the stock, the results were solid.
Highlights included an 11% year on year increase in revenue in constant currency to US$8.05 billion. And net profit after tax in constant currency leapt 20% to US$1.94 billion.
This saw management up the unfranked interim dividend by 11% to $1.80 per share.
As for the nascent FY 2025, the CSL share price is up 0.78% so far in the new financial year.
