Biotech giant posts profit slump after CEO’s shock move

Kaaren Morrissey | February 11, 2026

Australia’s largest biopharmaceutical company has posted a massive slump in interim profit less than a day after the sudden retirement of its chief executive.

CSL’s first-half net profit fell 81 per cent to $US401 million, after government policy changes, one-off restructuring costs and impairments severely impacted its bottom line.

The healthcare giant’s underlying result, excluding those impacts, was down seven per cent to $US1.9 billion for the six months ended December 31.

“We are clearly not satisfied with our performance and have implemented a number of initiatives to drive stronger growth going forward,” CSL’s chief financial officer Ken Lim said in a statement on Wednesday.

“In the second half, we have an ambitious growth plan, driven by immunoglobulin, albumin and our newly launched products.”

The Australia-based CSL maintained its guidance for full-year revenue growth of between two to three pre cent and a four to seven per cent rise in underlying net profit.

Just as the Australian stock market was closing on Tuesday, CSL – which makes vaccines and blood plasma-derived therapies – suddenly announced chief executive Paul McKenzie was stepping down.

“When the board sat down recently and looked at our business and where we need to go in the future, we, in discussion with Paul, recognised he didn’t have the skills that we wanted for the future,” chairman Brian McNamee told analysts.

“We discussed this question of him therefore retiring.

“We need new and broader skills to improve performance commercially and also broaden our pipeline activities.”

Former CSL senior executive Gordon Naylor, a non-executive director of the company, has been appointed interim CEO and managing director.

CSL in October downgraded its 2025/26 earnings guidance due to falling US vaccination rates and reduced demand from China for the blood protein albumin.

Its shares were dumped in the final minute of trading after the Tuesday announcement, falling five per cent to $171.39, representing a 36.6 per cent drop over the past 12 months.

The shares had dipped in late September after President Donald Trump threatened to impose 100 per cent tariffs on pharmaceutical imports unless companies built manufacturing plants in the United States.