Alliance Pharma revenues hit by Covid-19 in H1

(Sharecast News) - Healthcare group Alliance Pharma said on Tuesday that first-half revenues had been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, principally in its prescription medicines business.
Alliance said see-through revenues for the first half came to £65.3m, a 7% decrease year-on-year, but noted that based on year-to-date trading, it expects revenue and underlying profit before tax for the full year to be in line with market expectations.

The AIM-listed group's consumer healthcare-focused unit proved "resilient" in the first half, generating sales of £30.0m, but noted that demand for its prescription driven products was lower due to the delays in routine treatments as healthcare professionals focused on maintaining hospital capacity to treat patients with Covid-19.

Alliance also said it experienced only minimal disruption to its supply chain due to Covid-19 and expects to witness further recovery in trading during the second half of the year.

Chief executive Peter Butterfield said: "We expected some reduction in demand during the first half of 2020 as a result of Covid-19. That said, we have come through strongly towards the end of the half and expect trading to recover further as we move into the second half of the year.

"The resilience and diversity of our product portfolio, and the ease with which we have managed to transition the business to operating remotely, position us very well to resume our growth trajectory as the markets for our products recover."

As of 1000 BST, Alliance shares were down 0.39% at 76p.