20th Oct 2015 09:00
LONDON (Alliance News) - Quantum Pharma PLC on Tuesday said it expects to trade in line with market expectations for its full year, as it proposed a maiden interim dividend since listing on AIM in November of last year.
According to forecasts provided by Morningstar, N+1 Singer expects Quantum to report a pretax profit of GBP12.09 million for the full year to end-January, whilst Edison Research expects it to report a pretax profit of GBP12.7 million.
The niche pharmaceutical manufacturer proposed a maiden interim dividend per share of 0.5 pence. The company is planning for a full year dividend of 1.5 pence, and said it expects to implement a progressive dividend policy in future years.
For the half year to end-July, Quantum reported a pretax profit of GBP2.8 million, down from GBP3.5 million a year before, as a rise in revenue to GBP34.3 million from GBP28.0 million was offset by higher cost of sales and a more than doubling of administrative expenses.
The jump in administrative costs was partly related to the company's acquisitions of Lamda and NuPharm during the year. Quantum said that it continued to integrate the two businesses during the period.
The company said its niche pharmaceutical pipeline continues to grow. However a few products that were due to launch earlier in the year have been delayed. It expects to have at least 10 products in the market by the end of the year.
"We anticipate a number of these product launches in the remainder of the financial year and as such we expect to trade in line with the market expectations for the year ending January 2016. Furthermore, as a result of the possibilities provided by the recent acquisitions of Lamda and NuPharm, the increased Niche Pharmaceuticals pipeline and the focused divisional structure, I believe that the group has greater growth potential now than at the time of the IPO, and I am excited by the future," said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Scaife in a statement.
Shares in Quantum Pharma were down 3.6% at 120.00 pence Tuesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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