Half-year Report

UDG Healthcare plc

Interim Report 2017

23 May 2017: UDG Healthcare plc ("UDG Healthcare" or "Group"), a leading international healthcare services provider, announces its results for the six months to 31 March 2017, after a period of strong financial growth and continued progress on the Group's key strategic initiatives.

Non-IFRS information

The Group reports certain financial measures that are not required under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) which represent the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) under which the Group reports. The Group believes that the presentation of these non-IFRS measures provides useful supplemental information which, when viewed in conjunction with our IFRS financial information, provides investors with a more meaningful understanding of the underlying financial and operating performance of the Group and its divisions. These measures are also used internally to evaluate the historical and planned future performance of the Group's operations and to measure executive management's performance based remuneration. Reference to these performance measurements throughout this report are to the adjusted measurements unless otherwise stated and these adjusted measures are explained on pages 39-43.

1 Adjusted operating profit, profit before tax and diluted EPS are stated before the amortisation of acquired intangible assets ($10.2m, pre-tax) and transaction costs ($1.8m, pre-tax).

2 The Group has classified its joint venture arrangement with Magir Limited as a discontinued operation and an asset held for sale. The Group did not recognise an operating profit contribution from the asset in the period. The discontinued operations in the prior period also included United Drug Supply Chain Services, United Drug Sangers, TCP Group and MASTA. The Group's disposal of these operations was completed on 1 April 2016.

3 The interim dividend in the prior period of 3.41 $ cent (3.05 € cent) has been translated at the dividend record date spot exchange rate of $0.8954 = €1.

· Diluted earnings per share1 (EPS) from continuing operations increased by 19% (29% on a constant currency basis), aided by acquisitions and other timing benefits during the first half of the financial year.

· Guidance for full year constant currency continuing Group diluted earnings per share1 (EPS) increased from a range of 13% to 16% previously, to be between 15% and 18% ahead of last year (including the acquisitions below).

· Revenue growth of 8% (15% on a constant currency basis) to $578.9 million.

· Operating profit1 growth of 13% (21% on a constant currency basis) to $58.8 million.

· Operating margin1 increased from 9.7% to 10.2%. Net operating margin3 increased from 11.4% to 12.0%.

· Profit before tax1 up 19% (29% on a constant currency basis).

· Total Group EPS1 down 21% (15% constant currency) due to the sale of the United Drug businesses in April 2016.

· 5% increase in interim dividend to 3.58 cent per share.

· Net cash of $91 million at 31 March 2017.

· Return on capital employed (ROCE) at 31 March 2017 was 13.8%, up from 13.5% at 31 March 2016.

· Ashfield's operating profit1 increased by 18% (underlying growth2 of 8%), driven by a combination of organic and acquisition growth. STEM and Pegasus have performed well since acquisition.

· Agreement to acquire Sellxpert, a German contract sales organisation reached in May 2017, for a total consideration of up to $14.4 million, subject to competition authority approval.

· Sharp's operating profit1 increased by 8% (underlying growth2 of 8%), driven by continued growth in Sharp US and an improvement in Sharp Europe.

· Two capacity expansion initiatives in Sharp announced in April 2017, across commercial and clinical packaging.

· Aquilant's underlying operating profit2 increased by 6% with reported performance negatively impacted by adverse currency translation movements.

Commenting on the performance, UDG Healthcare plc Chief Executive Officer, Brendan McAtamney said:

"The first half of 2017 has been another very progressive period for UDG Healthcare, with strong growth delivered and continued progress made in pursuit of the Group's strategic objectives. The continuing Group's earnings per share increased by 19% (29% on a constant currency basis), driven by continued momentum in underlying profit growth and a strong performance by our recent acquisition, STEM.

The Group is increasing its guidance for constant currency diluted earnings per share1 (EPS) for the year to 30 September 2017 by 2% to a range of between 15% and 18% ahead of last year."

1 Before the amortisation of acquired intangible assets and transaction costs.

2 Underlying growth is reported growth adjusted for the impact of currency translation movements and any acquisition or disposal activity.

3 Operating margin as a percentage of net revenue. Net revenue represents gross revenue adjusted for revenue associated with pass-through costs, for which the Group does not earn a margin.

Management and Board changes

In early May 2017, Jez Moulding was appointed Chief Operating Officer of the Group and Executive Vice President of Ashfield. Jez has over 20 years of senior international leadership and pharmaceutical experience focused on the Group's key global markets, predominantly gained in various roles for Sanofi. Jez's appointment will strengthen the Group's senior management team and support the continued international growth of the Group.

In April 2017, Myles Lee joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director. Mr Lee is a former Group Chief Executive of CRH plc, a FTSE100 and Fortune 500 company.

Corporate development activity

The Group continues to be active from a corporate development perspective. In October 2016, the Group completed the acquisition of STEM which has performed well during the period. It is worth noting that STEM's activity levels are weighted towards the first half of the Group's financial year, as fewer audits are carried out during the summer period.

In May 2017, the Group announced the acquisition of Sellxpert GmbH ("Sellxpert"), a German contract sales outsourcing business for a total potential consideration of up to $14.4 million, subject to competition authority approval. The acquisition of Sellxpert will strengthen Ashfield Commercial & Clinical's presence and capabilities in Germany.

As at 31 March 2017, the Group was in a net cash position and will continue to focus on delivering organic growth and executing strategic acquisition opportunities, complementary to the Group's existing high growth businesses.

Sharp and Ashfield expansion

In April 2017, Sharp announced two further capacity expansion initiatives. In the US, Sharp acquired a pharmaceutical grade packaging facility close to its existing sites for $14 million. This will provide additional capacity across both commercial and clinical trial packaging services.

In the UK, Sharp is investing $11 million in its clinical packaging business with the purchase of a new facility in South Wales, more than tripling the size of the current UK facility. The fit out of this facility is expected to be completed by late 2018.

These expansion initiatives follow on from the completion of the build and fit out of a new packaging facility in Pennsylvania in 2016, which increased Sharp's US business commercial packaging capacity by approximately 30%. These capacity expansions will enable Sharp to capitalise on the ongoing growth in demand for both commercial and clinical packaging services.

To facilitate the continued growth of the Ashfield business, Ashfield's US Commercial & Clinical operations completed the move to its new leased office facility in Pennsylvania in April 2017. This facility is 60% larger than the previous premises and will support the continued expansion of Ashfield in the strategically important US market.

These expansion initiatives are consistent with the Group's strategy of expanding capacity to support new and existing clients. This leaves the Group well positioned to benefit from the positive growth outlook in the outsourced healthcare services market and the market opportunities that this will present.

Future Fit

The Group remains focused on investing in scalable infrastructure across HR, Finance and IT to support the continued delivery of sustainable future growth. As part of this project, the Group launched its Human Resource Information System, Workday, in April 2017. In addition, the implementation of Ashfield's new finance system is being rolled-out on a phased basis over the next 18 months.

These investments will support the Group's future growth and ensure it is well placed to manage existing businesses and integrate future acquisitions.

Reporting currency

The Group announced in August 2016 that from the beginning of the new financial year on 1 October 2016, the Group would change its reporting currency to US Dollar. This 2017 Interim Report is the first set of results which the Group has presented in US Dollar. Please see note 19 for further details on the change in presentational currency.

Outlook

The Group is well positioned to deliver continued growth both organically and through strategic acquisitions, and remains focused on increasing its scale and building on its leading market positions.

Based on improved underlying trading performance and the benefit of the Sellxpert acquisition, the Group is increasing its guidance for continuing Group constant currency adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the year to 30 September 2017 from a range of 13% to 16% previously, to be between 15% and 18% ahead of last year.

While constant currency adjusted diluted EPS growth was 29% in H1 2017, the Group does not expect this growth rate to be representative of the full year outcome. Underlying operating profit growth of 8% during H1 2017, was supplemented by:

· the acquisition of Pegasus in April 2016;

· STEM's seasonally stronger first half of the financial year due to higher audit activity levels;

· a decrease in net interest costs compared to the prior year period following the repayment of the RCF bank facility in April 2016; and

· no Future Fit operating costs (commenced in April 2017).

The average 2016 financial year exchange rates were $1:€0.9002 and $1:£0.7045. The average exchange rates during H1 2017 were $1:€0.9330 and $1:£0.8066 (2016 H1 $1:€0.9102 and $1:£0.6787). Based on the current prevailing exchange rates, the Group is likely to face a foreign exchange headwind on the translation of non-US profits in FY17.

The Group expects to continue its 30+ year history of dividend growth in FY17. The Board has declared an interim dividend of 3.58c per share, a 5% increase on the 2016 interim dividend.

Preliminary Results

The Group will issue preliminary results for the year to 30 September 2017 on Tuesday, 28 November 2017.

Analyst presentation

A presentation for investors and analysts will be held at the London Stock Exchange at 8.30 GMT today, Tuesday, 23 May 2017. If you wish to attend, please contact Powerscourt. Alternatively, to dial into the conference call or webcast, the details are as follows:

Audio webcast

http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/ee9kdegt

Conference call

UK number: + 44 20-3427-1903

Ireland number: + 353-1-246-5603

US number: + 1-646-254-3388

Participant code: 1935522

If you wish to ask questions, please do so via the conference call.

A replay of the audio webcast can be accessed via the same webcast link above.

Review of Operations

Ashfield

1 Net revenue represents gross revenue adjusted for revenue associated with pass-through costs, for which the Group does not earn a margin. There are no pass-through costs in Sharp or Aquilant.

2 Underlying growth adjusts for the impact of currency translation movements and any acquisition or disposal activity.

Ashfield delivered a strong financial performance in H1 2017, benefiting from both good organic growth and acquisitions completed in 2016. Net revenue was up 12% to $289.0 million and operating profit up 18% to $36.4 million.

Adjusting for the negative impact of currency translation movements and the contribution of acquisitions, Ashfield generated 10% underlying net revenue growth and underlying operating profit growth of 8%. Operating margin increased to 9.6%, while net operating margin (allowing for pass-through costs) increased to 12.6%.

Ashfield Commercial & Clinical generated good growth during the period with underlying operating profit growth of 8%. This was principally due to a strong performance in North America, driven by increased activity levels with one client. Ashfield's North American Commercial & Clinical operations recently completed the move to new offices in Pennsylvania ensuring the business has capacity for future growth. The European business demonstrated good growth with particularly strong growth in Germany.

The acquisition of Sellxpert, which remains subject to competition authority approval, will strengthen Ashfield Commercial & Clinical's presence and capabilities in Germany and Ashfield's leading market position in Europe.

Ashfield Communications delivered strong growth during the period with net revenue up 23% and operating profit up 35% including the benefit of the acquisitions of STEM and Pegasus during 2016. STEM has performed particularly well during the seasonally stronger first half of the financial year. While underlying net revenue growth was 3% behind, underlying profit was 7% ahead of the prior period due to higher growth from higher margin services.

Sharp

1 Underlying growth adjusts for the impact of currency translation movements. There was no acquisition or disposal activity in 2016 or H1 2017.

Sharp delivered a good performance in H1 2017, with revenues up 5% to $152.7m and operating profit up 8% to $19.2m. Adjusting for the negative impact of currency translation movements, the division generated underlying revenue growth of 7% and underlying operating profit growth of 8%. Operating margins increased to 12.6% during the period.

Sharp US delivered good growth during the period compared to a strong comparable prior period. Underlying trading performance across all packaging formats was good, with biotech being particularly strong. 

Sharp's new commercial packaging facility in Pennsylvania opened in 2016 and is ramping up in line with expectations. In addition, a new US packaging site was acquired in April 2017 to expand the commercial and clinical offering to the Group's US clients, albeit this will have no material profit impact this year.

Sharp Europe generated underlying revenue growth of 17% and moved into profit during the period. The business development pipeline continues to improve and the Group remains increasingly optimistic about the prospects for the Sharp Europe business. However, given the longer lead times required in packaging services, the Group does not anticipate a significant improvement in performance until FY18 and FY19.

US and European legislation requires the mandatory serialisation of prescription medicines from late November 2017 in the US and February 2019 in Europe. The Group expects the benefit of serialisation to be weighted towards the second half of the calendar year.

Over the past 18 to 24 months, Sharp has significantly invested in its infrastructure, to ensure it is well positioned to meet the expected demand from both its existing and new clients for serialisation services. Additionally, Sharp continues to invest in high quality, FDA approved packaging facilities to expand capacity to meet increasing demand for its services. This leaves the business well positioned for continued growth from both new and existing clients.

Aquilant

1 Underlying growth adjusts for the impact of currency translation movements. There was no acquisition or disposal activity in 2016 or H1 2017

Revenue was 14% behind the prior period, however, adjusting for negative currency translation movements, underlying revenue was only marginally behind the prior period.

Reported operating profit was 11% behind the prior period, also primarily due to adverse currency translation movements. Underlying operating profit was 6% ahead of the prior period reflecting an improved sales mix, the benefit of new business which came on stream in 2016 and an improving capital sales profile.

About UDG Healthcare plc

UDG Healthcare plc (LON: UDG) is a leading international partner of choice delivering commercial, clinical, communications and packaging services to the healthcare industry, employing over 8,000 people with operations in 23 countries and delivering services in over 50 countries.

UDG Healthcare plc operates across three divisions: Ashfield, Sharp and Aquilant.

Ashfield is a global leader in commercialisation services for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, operating across two broad areas of activity: commercial & clinical services, and communications services. It focuses on supporting healthcare professionals and patients at all stages of the product life cycle. The division provides field and contact centre sales teams, healthcare communications, patient support, audit, advisory, medical information and event management services to over 300 healthcare companies.

Sharp is a global leader in contract commercial packaging and clinical trial packaging services for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, operating from state of the art facilities across the US and Europe. Sharp is also a world leader in 'Track and Trace' serialisation services, which will require all prescription drugs to have a unique serial code for authentication and traceability.

Aquilant is a leading provider of outsourced sales, marketing, distribution and engineering services to the medical and scientific sectors in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.

The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250.

For more information, please go to: www.udghealthcare.com

Forward-looking information

Some statements in this announcement are or may be forward looking statements. They represent expectations for the Group's business, including statements that relate to the Group's future prospects, developments and strategies, and involve risks and uncertainties both general and specific. The Group has based these forward-looking statements on assumptions regarding present and future strategies of the Group and the environment in which it will operate in the future. However, because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors including but not limited to general economic, political, financial and business factors, which in some cases are beyond the Group's control, actual results, performance, operations or achievements expressed or implied by such forward looking statements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and accordingly you should not rely on these forward looking statements in making investment decisions. Except as required by applicable law or regulation, neither the Group nor any other party intends to update or revise these forward looking statements after the date these statements are published, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Finance Review

Revenue

Revenue for the period of $578.9 million was 8% ahead of 2016. Ashfield reported revenue 12% ahead of the prior period (up 12% excluding pass through revenue) and Sharp reported revenue 5% ahead of the prior period. Aquilant revenue was 14% down on 2016, however, adjusting for negative currency translation movements, underlying revenue was only marginally behind the prior period.

Adjusted operating profit

Adjusted operating profit from continuing operations of $58.8 million is 13% ahead (21% on a constant currency basis) of H1 2016. Further details on the principal exchange rates used are provided in note 17.

Adjusted operating margin

The adjusted operating margin for the businesses for the period of 10.2% increased from 9.7% in H1 2016. This continues the upward trend in operating margin in recent years as the Group focuses on operating efficiencies and achieving faster growth from businesses with higher operating margins.

Adjusted profit before tax

Net interest costs for the period of $5.9 million are 25% lower than H1 2016. This delivered a profit before tax of $52.9 million which is 19% ahead of 2016 (29% on a constant currency basis).

Taxation

The effective taxation rate has decreased from 24.0% in H1 2016 to 23.8% in H1 2017.

Adjusted diluted earnings per share

Continuing Group earnings per share is 19% ahead (29% on a constant currency basis) of H1 2016 at 16.23 cent.

Foreign exchange

The Group operates in 23 countries, delivering services in over 50 countries, with its primary foreign exchange exposure being the translation of local income statements and balance sheets into US Dollar for Group reporting purposes. The primary non-Dollar currencies are Sterling and Euro and their exchange rates for 2016 and 2017 are outlined in note 17. The Sterling exchange rate depreciated significantly in 2016. The retranslation of overseas profits to US Dollar has reduced constant currency EPS growth of 29% to a reported EPS growth rate of 19%.

Discontinued operations

The Group has classified its joint venture arrangement with Magir Limited as a discontinued operation and an asset held for sale. The Group did not recognise an operating profit contribution from the asset in the period. Discontinued operations in the prior period also included United Drug Supply Chain Services, United Drug Sangers, TCP Group and MASTA, which were disposed of on 1 April 2016.

Cash flow

Net cash increased by $350.7 million to $91.1 million (31 March 2016: net debt $259.6 million). This was primarily as a result of the disposal of the United Drug Supply Chain businesses and MASTA in H2 2016. Net cash has decreased by $52.1 million since 30 September 2016 primarily due to the acquisition of STEM. The net cash inflow from operating activities was $59.1 million.

$27.5 million was invested in our operations in property, plant and equipment and computer software. This includes IT investment to enable our businesses to grow in an efficient manner and investment in the new facility in Sharp UK. $59.9 million was paid in consideration for the acquisition of STEM, while the Group also paid $0.2 million in deferred contingent consideration associated with prior year acquisitions. Dividend payments of $22.4 million relating to the final 2016 dividend were made during the period. Foreign exchange translation reduced cash balances by $15.4 million.

Balance sheet

Net cash at the end of the period was $91.1 million ($365.5 million cash and $274.4 million debt). The net cash/(debt) to annualised EBITDA ratio is 0.61 times cash (2016: 1.69 times debt) and net interest is covered 13.4 times (2016: 11.3 times) by annualised EBITDA. Financial covenants in our principal debt facilities are based on net debt to EBITDA being less than 3.5 times and EBITDA interest cover being greater than three times.

Return on capital employed

The ROCE for continuing operations was 13.8%, up from 13.5% at 31 March 2016.

The Group targets ROCE of 15% within three years for all investments. The Group has invested significantly in acquisitions and capital expenditure in recent years and we anticipate that organic growth in future years will increase Group ROCE to the targeted 15% level.

Dividends

The directors are proposing an interim dividend of 3.58 $ cent per share representing an increase of 5% on the 2016 interim dividend. The interim dividend is payable to shareholders on the Company's register at 5.00 pm on 2 June 2017 and will be paid on 27 June 2017. The Euro and Sterling exchange rates applied to the payment of the interim dividend will be set on 2 June 2017.

Investor relations

UDG Healthcare's senior management team spend a significant amount of time meeting with shareholders and the international financial community. We have invested in dedicated investor relations resources and are focused on increasing the awareness of the Company among the investor and analyst community.

We communicate regularly with our shareholders throughout the year, specifically following the release of our interim and preliminary results, and at the time of major developments. Our website www.udghealthcare.com, is the primary method of communication for the majority of our shareholders. We publish our annual report, preliminary results and other public announcements on our website. In addition, details of our conference calls and presentations are available through our website.

The Board of Directors considers it important to understand the views of shareholders and receive regular updates on investor perceptions.

Our investor relations department provides a point of contact for shareholders and full contact details are set out in the investor relations section of our website. Shareholders can also submit an information request through the shareholder services section of our website.

The Transparency (Directive 2004/109/EC) Regulations 2007 require the disclosure of the principal risks and uncertainties which could have a material impact on the Group's performance over the remainder of the financial year.

The Group operates within a highly regulated environment and the expectations of our key stakeholders, which include our clients and regulators, are very high. Our services include communicating to healthcare professionals, appropriate product use, pharmaceutical packaging and the distribution of pharmaceutical products for normal use or clinical trials. We focus on making sure that we deliver these services correctly and in a compliant way. However, failure to do so could result in adverse consequences for patients and our clients, so the risks that we face in delivering our services are potentially significant.

The Group's ability to avoid or mitigate these risks is underpinned by detailed risk registers maintained by each of the Group's divisions and business units. These risk registers identify the risks, as well as the plans for addressing them, and the consolidated Group risk register is reviewed by the executive directors on a regular basis. The consolidated risk register is also reviewed by the Risk, Investment and Finance Committee and the Chairman of that committee reports to the Board on the outcome of each review.

The principal risks and uncertainties identified by the risk management process as facing the Group are detailed below:

Statement of Directors

Each of the directors confirms that to the best of their knowledge and belief:

· the condensed set of interim financial statements comprising the condensed consolidated income statement, the condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive income, the condensed consolidated statement of changes in equity, the condensed consolidated balance sheet, the condensed consolidated cash flow statement, and the related notes have been prepared in accordance with IAS 34, Interim Financial Reporting as adopted by the EU;

· the half-yearly financial report includes a fair review of the information required by:

(a) Regulation 8(2) of the Transparency (Directive 2004/109/EC) Regulations 2007, being an indication of important events that have occurred during the first six months of the financial year and their impact on the condensed set of financial statements; and a description of the principal risks and uncertainties for the remaining six months of the year; and

(b) Regulation 8(3) of the Transparency (Directive 2004/109/EC) Regulations 2007, being related party transactions that have taken place in the first six months of the current financial year and that have materially affected the financial position or performance of the entity during that period; and any changes in the related party transactions described in the last Annual Report that could do so.

The Group's auditor has not reviewed this condensed half-yearly financial report.

On behalf of the Board(i)

22 May 2017

(i) The Board of UDG Healthcare plc is disclosed on the Company's website, www.udghealthcare.com.

Condensed consolidated income statement

Condensed consolidated statement of

comprehensive income

Condensed consolidated statement of changes in

equity

Condensed consolidated balance sheet

Condensed consolidated cash flow statement

Notes to the condensed interim financial statements

1. Reporting entity

UDG Healthcare plc (the "Company") is a company domiciled in Ireland. The unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial information of the Company for the six months ended 31 March 2017, are comprised of the Company and its subsidiaries (together referred to as the "Group") and the Group's interest in joint ventures and associates.

The financial information presented herein does not amount to statutory financial statements that are required by Section 347 of the Companies Act, 2014 to be annexed to the annual return of the Company. The financial information does not include all the information and disclosures required in the annual financial statements. The statutory financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2016 will be annexed to the annual return and filed with the Registrar of Companies. The audit report on those statutory financial statements was unqualified and did not contain any matters to which attention was drawn by way of emphasis.

2. Statement of compliance

These unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements ("the interim accounts") for the six months ended 31 March 2017 have been prepared in accordance with IAS 34, Interim Financial Reporting, as endorsed by the European Union. These interim accounts do not include all of the information required for full annual financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the most recent published consolidated financial statements of the Group. The accounting policies applied in the interim accounts are the same as those applied in the 2016 Annual Report except for the change in the Group's presentation currency from Euro to US Dollar.

The Group has adopted the following standards and interpretations during the period but these did not have a material effect on the results or the financial position of the Group:

The preparation of interim financial statements requires the use of certain critical accounting estimates, judgements and assumptions. The areas involving a high degree of judgement or complexity, or areas where assumptions and estimates are significant to the financial statements, relate primarily to goodwill impairment testing, revenue recognition and the identification and valuation of intangible assets arising from acquisitions. The nature of the assumptions and estimates made in the preparation of the interim accounts are the same as those identified in our most recent annual report. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis of making the judgements about carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. There was no significant change to any of these key estimates or judgements in the six month period, other than a change to certain actuarial assumptions as set out in note 14.

The income tax expense for the six month period is calculated by applying the directors' best estimate of the annual effective tax rate to the profit for the period.

The directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company, and the Group as a whole, have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the condensed consolidated interim financial statements.

As permitted by the Transparency (Directive 2004/109/EC) Regulations 2007 this Interim Report is available on www.udghealthcare.com. However, if a physical copy is required, please contact the Company Secretary.

3. Segmental analysis

The Group's operations are divided into the following operating segments each of which operates in a distinct sector of the healthcare services market:

Ashfield - Ashfield is a global leader in commercialisation services for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, operating across two broad areas of activity: commercial & clinical services, and communications services. It focuses on supporting healthcare professionals and patients at all stages of the product life cycle. The division provides field and contact centre sales teams, healthcare communications, patient support, audit, advisory, medical information and event management services to over 300 healthcare companies.

Sharp - Sharp is a global leader in contract commercial packaging and clinical trial packaging services for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, operating from state of the art facilities across the US and Europe. Sharp is also a world leader in 'Track and Trace' serialisation services, which will require all prescription drugs to have a unique serial code for authentication and traceability.

Aquilant - Aquilant is a leading provider of outsourced sales, marketing, distribution and engineering services to the medical and scientific sectors in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.

At 31 March 2017 the Group has classified the joint venture investment in Magir Limited as a discontinued operation and an asset held for sale. Details of the discontinued operations are included in note 6. The segmental analysis of the business corresponds with the Group's organisational structure and the Group's internal reporting for the purpose of managing the business and assessing performance as reviewed by the Group's Chief Operating Decision Maker (CODM), which the Group has defined as Brendan McAtamney (Chief Executive Officer).

The amount of revenue and operating profit under the Group's operating segments is as follows:

4. Share of joint ventures' profit after tax

5. Finance income and expense

6. Net result from discontinued operations and assets and liabilities classified as held for sale

On 1 April 2016 the Group completed the disposal of United Drug Supply Chain Services, United Drug Sangers, TCP Group and MASTA for an aggregate cash consideration of $463.9 million before adjustments in respect of working capital, taxation and costs. At 31 March 2016, these operations were treated as discontinued operations and assets held for sale in accordance with IFRS 5.

The Group has treated the joint venture arrangement with Magir Limited as a discontinued operation and asset held for sale in accordance with IFRS 5 as the business is no longer a strategic asset following our exit from the Pharma Wholesaling segment of the market and given the decision by management to dispose of the shareholding as it is non-core. The comparative Group Income Statement, Group Statement of Comprehensive Income, Group Balance Sheet and the Group Cash Flow Statement to 31 March 2016 have been restated to show the discontinued operation separately from continuing operations. The Group did not recognise an operating profit from the asset in the period.

The following table details the results of discontinued operations included in the Group Income Statement:

1 Restated to include Magir Limited.

In accordance with IFRS 5, depreciation of property, plant and equipment and amortisation of intangibles was not charged on the assets held for sale. If the assets had continued to be depreciated and amortised, the respective pre-tax charges for the prior period would have been $3,874,000 and $791,000.

The following table details the assets and liabilities classified as held for sale in the Group Balance Sheet:

1 Restated to include Magir Limited.

7. Earnings per ordinary share

7. Earnings per ordinary share (continued)

Non-IFRS information

The Group reports certain financial measures that are not required under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) which represent the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) under which the Group reports. The Group believes that the presentation of these non-IFRS measures provides useful supplemental information which, when viewed in conjunction with our IFRS financial information, provides investors with a more meaningful understanding of the underlying financial and operating performance of the Group and its divisions. These measures are also used internally to evaluate the historical and planned future performance of the Group's operations and to measure executive management's performance based remuneration.

The Group has treated the joint venture arrangement with Magir Limited as a discontinued operation and asset held for sale in accordance with IFRS 5. The comparative Group Income Statement, Group Statement of Comprehensive Income, Group Balance Sheet and Group Cash Flow to 31 March 2016 have been restated to reflect this change and as such the 2016 earnings per share calculations have been adjusted.

1 Adjusted profit attributable to owners of the parent from continuing operations is stated before the amortisation of acquired intangible assets ($7.7m, net of tax) and transaction costs ($1.6m, net of tax).

2 Adjusted profit attributable to owners of the parent from discontinued operations in 2016 is stated after adding back transaction costs ($8.3m, net of tax).

Treasury shares have been excluded from the weighted average number of shares in issue used in the calculation of earnings per share.

The average market value of the Company's shares for the purposes of calculating the dilutive effect of share options was based on quoted market prices for the period.

8. Property, plant and equipment

9. Movement in goodwill, intangible assets and investment in joint ventures and associates

10. Other reserves