(Alliance News) - Moody's Investor Service said Wednesday it has affirmed all the ratings of generic drug company Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC and kept a stable outlook.
Moody's said it has affirmed the Ba1 corporate family rating, the Ba1-PD probability of default rating and Ba1 instrument rating on its existing senior unsecured bond.
The affirmation of the Ba1 corporate family rating is supported by the company's recent good performance against price pressures, in particular in the US, its good product pipeline of over 300 products across business segments and geographies, and strong credit metrics as a result of a conservative balance sheet structure, Moody's said.
However, those factors are balanced by the company's relatively small scale of over USD2 billion sales and moderate margins from its somewhat commoditized portfolio compared to generics peers.
Also, the expected slowdown in organic growth primarily driven by continued downward pricing
pressure in the retail generic market in the US, the risk of political instability in the Middle East and North Africa region, and acquisition-related event risk.
Moody's expects that the company's organic growth will be in the low-to-mid single digits in percentage terms over the next 12-18 months, backed by product pipeline approvals and launches.
Hikma's shares closed 4.1% higher in London at 1,986.50 pence each on Wednesday.
By Loreta Juodagalvyte; loretajuodagalvyte@alliancenews.com
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Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK)