LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca's underlying earnings fell 12 percent in the first quarter, broadly in line with analyst expectations, hit by drug patent expiries.
Revenue at the British drug company rose 1 percent in dollar terms to $6.12 billion, helped by income from selling rights to some drugs, generating core earnings per share, which exclude certain items, of 95 cents.
Industry analysts had on average forecast quarterly revenue of $5.93 billion and earnings of 94 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters.
AstraZeneca reiterated on Friday that it expects a low to mid single-digit percentage decline in both revenue and core earnings at constant exchange rates for the full year.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by David Goodman)