25th Mar 2015 10:12
LONDON (Alliance News) - Alliance Pharma PLC Wednesday posted a decline in pretax profit for 2014 on lower sales of its cyclical toxicology product and generic competition to its Nu-Seals aspirin, although it cited recent acquisitions and the resumption of bladder cancer drug ImmuCyst in the second half as growth drivers for 2015.
The pharmaceutical distribution company proposed a final dividend of 0.667 pence, taking its total dividend to 1.00 pence per share, compared to 0.908 pence a year before.
Alliance Pharma posted a pretax profit of GBP10.2 million, down from GBP12.0 million a year before, as revenue declined to GBP43.5 million from GBP45.3 million and it booked a GBP622,000 impairment charge in relation to its Pavacol-D cough-suppressant medicine.
Production issues halted sales of Pavacol-D, and the company said that whilst it is currently looking at ways to bring it back to market, there is a "significant risk" it will not be economical to do so.
Whilst it saw lower sales of the cyclical toxicology product and Nu-Seals, this was partly offset by growth of 11% across the rest of the company's portfolio.
The company has been unable to supply ImmuCyst since production was halted at Sanofi SA's manufacturing plant in Canada in mid-2012, after US Food and Drug Administration inspectors cited the plant due to mould problems. Regulatory validation of the refurbished production facility is taking longer than initially anticipated, Alliance said, and it now expects to resume sales in the second half of 2015.
Alliance acquired the rights to Bayer AG's thyroid product Irenat in January, and followed this up with the acquisition of MacuVision Europe Ltd in February. It said it is continuing to seek out acquisition opportunities across a range of products and markets.
"In 2014 Alliance performed well, taking only a modest dip in sales and profits in a challenging year, which underlines the resilience of our business. We enter 2015 well placed for resumed growth. The recent acquisition of the fast-growing MacuShield brand together with the expected return of ImmuCyst in the second half of this year add to the growth drivers of our portfolio," Chairman Andrew Smith said in a statement.
Shares in Alliance are trading down 0.3% at 34.65 pence Wednesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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