24th Oct 2014 11:19
LONDON (Alliance News) - Shire PLC Friday increased its full year earnings guidance for the third time this year as it saw profit rise in its third quarter, its first results since its deal to be bought byh US-based AbbVie Inc fell through earlier this week.
The pharmaceutical company raised its non GAAP earnings per American depositary share growth guidance to the high 30% range. At the time of its interim results the company had guided in the low-to-mid 30% range.
The company posted a pretax profit of USD575.6 million for the third quarter, up from USD374.8 million in the previous year, as revenue rose to USD1.55 billion, from USD1.17 billion.
Product sales were up 33% to USD1.55 billion, boosted by its acquisition of ViroPharma Inc in January . Excluding sales from ViroPharma products, product sales rose 19%. The company also raised its full year expectations for product sales, expecting growth in the low 20% range having previously guided high teens growth.
It expects product sales growth in the fourth quarter to be lower than it had delivered so far, as the third quarter benefited from rare diseases sales to customers who order less frequently.
Revenue growth was boosted by a strong performance from its hereditary engiodema attack treatment Cinryze, which it acquired with ViroPharma, and sales of Firazyr.
The company has been keen to show its progress after its proposed GBP32 billion takeover by US based AbbVie Inc officially collapsed earlier this week, the first casualty of new US Treasury measures seeking to curb so-called "tax inversion" deals. Although the collapse of the deal took a big hit to Shire's share price, it has received a USD1.64 billion break free from AbbVie.
On Tuesday, Shire said it was "disappointed" that the takeover offer had fallen through but said that it had maintained momentum throughout the offer period, and reiterated its target of USD10 billion product sales by 2020. The company said Friday it is "confident that Shire, as an independent company, will deliver long-term value to shareholders and improved outcomes for patients."
Shire shares rose after the results were released, and are trading up 2.4% at 3,990.00 pence in London, the best-performing stock on the FTSE 100.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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