LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in Abcam PLC fell sharply Monday on a lacklustre full-year outlook despite the antibody maker and retailer hiking its interim dividend amid profit and revenue growth.
Shares in Abcam were 12% lower at 1,184.00 pence on Monday.
For the six months ended December, pretax profit widened 2.7% to GBP33.7 million from GBP32.8 million the year prior. This was after revenue rose 11% to GBP124.7 million from GBP112.5 million the year before, up 10% on a constant currency basis.
"We made further progress toward achieving our long-term goals in the first half of the year and delivered double digit revenue growth whilst meeting our strategic targets," Abcam Chief Executive Officer Alan Hirzel said.
Abcam proposed a 3.55 pence per share interim dividend, up 3.8% from 3.42p the year before.
"The fundamentals of our business remain strong and we continue to grow our revenues ahead of the market in every region we serve," Hirzel added.
"We are confident that the long-term investments we are making will enable us to sustain our low double-digit growth trajectory with attractive margins," Hirzel continued. "We have a strong balance sheet which enables us to move swiftly to capitalise on further opportunities, including acquisitions and partnerships."
In the "short term", however, Hirzel expects constant-currency revenue growth for the full year to be "broadly in line" with the first six months. This is due to "continued softness" in Japan and phasing of revenue for its custom products & licensing business.
In financial 2019, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation margin is expected to be around 35%. For the first six months of financial 2019, adjusted Ebitda margins stood at 35.6%.