25th May 2006 07:00
Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc25 May 2006 Annual General Meeting of Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC AGM Trading Update LONDON, 25 May 2006 - Samih Darwazah, Chairman and Chief Executive of HikmaPharmaceuticals PLC ("Hikma") (LSE: HIK) (DIFX: HIK), will today give thefollowing trading update to shareholders at the Company's Annual General Meetingin London: The Group is performing well, supported by the development of new markets in theMiddle East and North Africa (MENA) region and strong injectable sales. TheGroup has received a number of product approvals since the start of the year,including the approval of 5 ANDAs in the Generic business. We continue to investin R&D and sales and marketing across all of our businesses and see this as keyto supporting the longer term development of the Group. Branded PharmaceuticalsThe Group's Branded Pharmaceutical business is performing well. Sales aredeveloping positively, particularly in Saudi Arabia. We are seeing growth innewer markets like Sudan and UAE and launched our products in Yemen earlier thisyear. We expect these new markets will make an increasing contribution toBranded sales over the course of the year. As anticipated, the implementation ofa new reference pricing system in Algeria has created an element of uncertaintyin the Algerian market, resulting in lower than normal wholesaler and pharmacyinventory levels. Whilst this has impacted sales, we believe that we will beable to offset this over the course of the year, as the Algerian marketstabilises and through strong performances in other markets across the MENAregion. We continue to seek opportunities to consolidate our position in the MENAregion, as demonstrated by the agreement signed in April to buy the remaining52.5% of JPI, our Saudi Arabian associate, for approximately $21 million.Through this acquisition we will be well-positioned to benefit from the stronggrowth we are seeing in pharmaceutical markets across the Gulf CooperationCouncil (GCC) countries. In the four months to 30 April 2006, the Branded business received 16 regulatoryapprovals across the MENA markets, 5 of which were for new products. Inaddition, the Branded business launched one new product under-licence and signedone new licensing agreement. Injectable PharmaceuticalsThe Group's Injectable Pharmaceutical business has had a good start to the year,with strong sales growth across all targeted regions. In the four months to 30April 2006, the Injectables business received 18 product approvals, including 10for new products, and three new products were launched. In the United States wehave set up a specialised distribution company, Hikma Pharmaceuticals (USA)Inc., with a dedicated sales force for injectables. Across the Injectablesbusiness, we continue to benefit from ongoing investment in sales and marketing. Generic PharmaceuticalsIn our Generic Pharmaceuticals business, the operating environment in the UnitedStates remains highly competitive, with pricing pressure continuing as expected.We remain focused on reducing our raw material costs to help mitigate thischallenging market environment. In the four months to 30 April 2006, the Generics business received 5 ANDAapprovals, including 3 for new products. Further approvals and product launchesare anticipated later this year. Overall, we remain confident in our ability to deliver strong growth for thefull year. - ENDS - Enquiries: Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLCSusan Ringdal +44 20 7399 2770Investor Relations Director Brunswick GroupJon Coles / Wendel Verbeek / Justine McIlroy / Alex Tweed +44 20 7404 5959 About HikmaHikma Pharmaceuticals PLC is a multinational pharmaceutical group focused ondeveloping, manufacturing and marketing a broad range of both branded andnon-branded generic and in-licensed pharmaceutical products. Hikma's operationsare conducted through three businesses: Generic, Branded and InjectablePharmaceuticals. Hikma's operations are based principally in the United States,the Middle East and North Africa ("MENA") region and Europe. In 2005, the Grouphad revenue of $262 million and profit attributable to shareholders of $44million. At 31 December 2005, the Group had over 1,800 employees. For news andother information, please visit www.hikma.com. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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