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LONDON (Alliance News) - Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC on Wednesday raised its annual revenue target for the Injectables and Generics divisions following a significant uplift in profit in the first half of 2018.
The stock was trading 8.6% higher early on Wednesday at 1,784.00 pence each.
The FTSE 250-listed pharmaceutical company said pretax profit for the six months to the end of June totalled USD141.0 million, up from USD100.0 million reported for the same period a year earlier, as revenue climbed 11% to USD989.0 million from USD895.0 million.
On a constant currency basis, revenue rose by 10%.
During the period, Hikma said it saw revenue growth across all of its divisions and regions. The Injectables unit revenue grew by 14% year-on-year to USD414.0 million from USD362.0 million, driven by strong demand for Hikma's in-market products and recent product launches.
In the first half of 2018, Hikma's Injectables business launched nine products in the US, 16 products in the Middle East & North Africa, and 17 products in Europe.
The company said that Injectables division also benefited from a critical shortage of some pain management products to the US hospitals after a significant distributor to the US market temporarily ceased manufacturing.
Hikma warned, however, that it is not clear how long these shortages will persist, and it does not expect to see the same level of demand to continue into 2019.
Despite that, the company raised its full-year guidance for the Injectables unit and now expects revenue for 2018 to come in between USD775 million and USD825 million. Previously, Hikma targeted Injectables division to achieve revenue growth in a range of USD750 million to USD800 million.
Turning to the Generics segment, Hikm said it benefited from the commercial and operational improvements it has rolled-out over the past year. The Generics unit revenue climbed by 11% to USD338.0 million from USD305.0 million the year prior.
During the period, the Generics business launched three products and initiated a repeat clinical endpoint study for generic asthma medication Advair Diskus. The company said it expects to submit a response to the US Food & Drug Administration with the new clinical data in 2019.
For 2018, Hikma now expects the Generics division to deliver revenue in the range of USD600 million to USD650 million, up from between USD550 million and USD600 million forecasted in mid-May.
The company declared an interim dividend of 12 cents per share, up from 11 centra paid the year before.
"I am pleased with our first half performance, with each of our three business segments achieving revenue and, importantly, profit growth," said Chief Executive Siggi Olafsson.
"Our markets are competitive, and we don't expect the same demand for some of our injectable products to continue into 2019," added Olafsson. "This means we must remain focused on strengthening our customer relationships, improving profitability and advancing our pipeline to ensure future growth."
