Preliminary Results

Alliance Pharma PLC 22 March 2007 For immediate release 22 March 2007 ALLIANCE PHARMA PLC ('Alliance Pharma' or 'the Company') Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 December 2006 Alliance Pharma plc (AIM: APH), the emerging speciality pharmaceutical company, is pleased to announce its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2006. Financial Highlights • Sales of £17.3m, an increase of 17% against the 2005 annualised figure • Operating profit increased to £2.60m (2005: £2.17m) • Pre-tax profit restored to £0.50m (2005: £0.66m) • Gross profit margin at 53.5% (2005: 54.4%) Operational Highlights • Forceval marketing rights in China acquired in a joint venture agreement announced today (see separate release) • Specialist dermatology sales force established • Acquisition of Hydromol range - sales growing at more than 35% per year • Acquisition of three dermatology products from Pfizer Commenting on the results, Michael Gatenby, Alliance Pharma's Chairman, said: 'Our focus going forward will be on driving the Growth portfolio and progressing our development products but we remain receptive to any attractive acquisition opportunities that may arise. We are particularly pleased with today's announcement of the acquisition of Forceval rights in China. 'Trading in early 2007 has been in line with expectations and we are looking forward to a satisfactory outcome for the year as a whole.' For further information: Alliance Pharma plc + 44 (0) 1249 466966 John Dawson, Chief Executive Maddy Scott, Finance Director www.alliancepharma.co.uk Buchanan Communications + 44 (0) 20 7466 5000 Mark Court / Rebecca Skye Dietrich Chairman's and Chief Executive's statement The Company made good progress in 2006, particularly in the second half. The trading business continued to grow in scale and profitability, and now earns more than 30% of its turnover outside the UK. Financial results Sales for the 12 months to 31 December 2006 were £17.3m, an increase of 17.1% against the 2005 annualised result. Like for like growth was 5.7%, and the balance came from brands acquired during the year. As anticipated in our interim report, we have restored profitability: the pre-tax profit for the year was £0.50m (2005: £0.66m). The reduction in profit reflected an increase in operating costs as we strengthened investment in marketing our enlarged Growth product portfolio and in our development products. Over the past year, in line with the recent trend, there was a significant increase in our R&D, marketing and administrative spend. Our infrastructure should now be broadly sufficient to support considerable growth, and the impact on margins will diminish as our sales continue to grow. We recognise the importance of driving the business for profit and have taken action to control the level of infrastructure expenditure. Debt increased by £5.80m reflecting the loan finance arranged to fund product acquisitions. In May 2006 we had a well supported £2.39m (net) equity placing to strengthen our cash position. Trading business Our trading business made an operating profit of £5.12m, up 15.8% on the previous period annualised. We further strengthened the business during the year, adding five new brands to our Growth portfolio and two to our Core portfolio both generating cash for further investment. Our Growth portfolio increased sales by 30.2% on an annualised basis, benefiting from past marketing investment and the acquisition of new products. New marketing investment has been concentrated on Periostat and the dermatology products. Periostat is demonstrating excellent growth, with 74% achieved in the period, and continues to build momentum. In 2006 we progressed Periostat's UK marketing, shipped product under a distribution and marketing deal to Italy and moved further towards gaining approval for launch in Turkey later this year. This year we established a specialist dermatology sales force and the dermatology portfolio gained critical mass after we made the following acquisitions: • February 2006: the Hydromol range of prescription emollients, which is increasing sales at more than 35% a year in a market growing by 8.8% a year • May 2006: Caraderm Ltd, whose primary product is Dermamist, a spray for dry skin conditions with sales of £0.09m • July 2006: UK rights to three products from Pfizer - Atarax, for itchy skin disorders, with sales of £1.04m a year joins our Growth portfolio; Deltacortril, for a wide range of steroid-responsive conditions, with sales of £1.45m joins our Core portfolio; and Terra-Cortril, which we plan to relaunch. Although off the market for 18 months Terra-Cortril remains much in demand from burns units. A feature of the acquisition of these three products is that, in contrast to our debt-based deals, the consideration will be paid out of future earnings • September 2006: UK and Ireland rights to Permitabs, used in eczema related woundcare, which has steady sales of £0.27m a year In October we acquired the UK intellectual property for Syntometrine, a childbirth anti-haemorrhage product that we have marketed and distributed for Novartis since 1998. We are transferring production to one of our contract manufacturers and expect to realise a substantial margin improvement over the next year. We continue to explore export opportunities for other brands from the Growth portfolio, which has benefited from the acquisition, announced today, of the rights to market Forceval in China (see separate release), where the product is endorsed by public health authorities. The acquisition of the China rights completes Alliance's global distribution rights to Forceval. In 2006, sales of Forceval from the UK to China were £1.9m.. Alliance has acquired the rights in China through a joint venture company, Bellona Group Ltd, which is 60 per owned by Alliance and 40 per cent owned by Pacific Glory Development Ltd, a Chinese company that currently distributes Forceval in China and will continue to do so. Development business Both our development products made good progress in their Phase III clinical trials, but there have been unavoidable increases in the development timescales due to changes in regulatory requirements. Net revenue expenditure in our development business was £1.69m as we increased expenditure in the pre-launch marketing activity (totalling £3.63m including the clinical development expenditure). Posidorm, our melatonin product for sleep disorders, has successfully completed the pilot phases of its Phase III trials in shiftworkers and elderly patients. The results show significant improvements in sleep duration, as well as improved night-time performance in shiftworkers, without unexpected side-effects. As announced in our recent trading update, we had originally intended to seek UK registration first, which would subsequently have allowed registration in other European countries. Due to recent changes in regulatory procedures, we must now go through the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) in a process that will take less account of the existing medical and scientific literature on melatonin. As a result additional safety and dose confirmation studies are required, which delays the anticipated completion of development and adds substantial additional costs. However, the EMEA route gives a clear pathway through the registration process and allows an optimised pan-European product launch beginning in 2010/ 11. Posidorm has the potential to transform the Company through significant annual revenues. We are currently considering our options for sharing some of the final-stage investment costs with co-development and marketing partners. Our other development project, Isprelor for induction of labour, has just completed recruitment in its major Phase III trials. Once the results from these studies become available, the final stage of development can be undertaken. This mainly relates to formulation optimisation and, based on input from the relevant regulatory agencies at our pre-submission meetings, generation of additional pharmacokinetic data. This work, although routine, will nevertheless delay the anticipated completion of development from mid 2007 to late 2008 and adds costs estimated at £1m. As part of the preparation for a 2009 product launch, outlicensing negotiations are under way. People In June 2006 we appointed Andrew Smith, a highly experienced healthcare executive, as our third non-executive director. He is a former managing director of SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals UK & Ireland. In January 2007, Mark Tomlinson joined the board as Medical Director. Dr Tomlinson is an experienced pharmaceutical physician having held senior medical roles in major organisations including Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Synthelabo. His particular expertise is in managing clinical research projects and preparing products for market At the forthcoming AGM Maddy Scott, Finance Director, and Sam Madden, Director: Acquisitions Integration, will both be resigning as directors and leaving Alliance. Maddy Scott leaves a strong and capable finance function and a search is currently ongoing to source her replacement. Sam Madden's functional role in terms of acquisitions' integration is now being absorbed within various departments, where staff have grown in experience, and her role as scientific lead on the Board has been taken over by Mark Tomlinson's appointment. Outlook This year we look forward to further sales growth in our trading business, building on the past year's success and a full-year contribution from our 2006 acquisitions. We aim to optimise profit through good cost management. Margins will benefit from driving higher sales through our infrastructure and the transfer of recently acquired products to our own contract manufacturing arrangements; we are awaiting regulatory approval to transfer Atarax and Deltacortril, and will transfer Syntometrine in late 2007. Our focus will be on driving the Growth portfolio and progressing our development products, but we remain receptive to any attractive acquisition opportunities that may arise. Trading in early 2007 has been in line with expectations. We are looking forward to a satisfactory outcome for the year as a whole, although within the year there are known factors, specifically the timing of brand production transfers and the recent acquisition of Forceval for the Chinese market, which will result in the second half being stronger than the first. Michael Gatenby, Chairman John Dawson, Chief Executive 21 March 2007 * To move our reporting year-end to 31 December, our previous full accounts were for the 10 months to 31December 2005. In some cases prior year figures in this statement have been annualised to provide more meaningful comparison. Financial review Presentation of results Following our change of year-end to 31 December in 2005, the figures given in this report have three bases rather than the normal two. Figures under the heading '2006' or 'December 06' relate to the 12 months ended 31 December 2006. Those under the heading '2005' or 'December 05' relate to the 10 months ended 31 December 2005. Those under '2005 annualised' are the December 05 figures multiplied by 12/10 to give a nominal value for the full 2005 calendar year. We segment the Group figures into three areas: • Core brands receive no promotional investment, with stable sales driven by prescribing habit • Growth brands have stable sales with growth potential and we back them with promotional investment Together, the Core brands and Growth brands make up our profitable trading business. • Development brands - the products Isprelor and Posidorm - are currently under clinical development with a view to launch in the future. Investments in these brands, both on marketing and infrastructure, effectively temper the results of the trading segments. Turnover Our 2006 turnover was £17.25m, a 40.5% increase on the £12.28m achieved in 2005. Against the 2005 annualised result, the increase was 17.1%. This increase was driven by our Growth brands, which achieved 2006 sales of £8.83m compared with £5.65m in 2005. The annualised growth was 30.2%, benefiting from a succession of acquisitions through the year. In 2006 the Growth brands accounted for 51.2% of our trading business sales. The remaining 48.8% came from our Core brands, which achieved 2006 sales of £8.42m compared with £6.62m in 2005. The annualised growth rate was 5.9%. We are increasing our international sales which rose from 9.2% of our total turnover compared with 7.5% in 2005. 12 months 10 months 2005 annualised to December 2006 to December 2005 £m £m £m Turnover 17.25 12.28 14.73 Growth 40.5% 17.1% Gross profit Our gross profit margin stabilised at 53.5% as expected, slightly below the previous year's margin of 54.4%. It should continue at this level, as the opportunities to increase it much further are limited in the short term. However, we expect further improvement once the development products are launched. Operating expenses The increase in operating expenses reflects further significant investment in the future growth of the Group. This included £1.69m investment in early marketing and infrastructure to further the development of Isprelor and Posidorm. The total expenditure of £6.63m was an increase of £0.95m (16.7%) on the 2005 annualised figure, a consistent percentage of sales. Profit before tax The 2006 operating profit of £2.60m was 20.0% up on the 2005 figure. Excluding the development spend of £1.69m, the trading business operating profit was £5.12m - a 15.8% increase on 2005 annualised excluding unallocated costs. However, because of increased investment in the development portfolio and two operational issues in the first half that are now resolved, our pre-tax profit reduced from £0.66m in 2005 to £0.50m in 2006. 12 months to December 10 months to 2006 December 2005 £m £m Sales revenue 17.25 12.28 Gross profit 9.23 6.67 53.5% 54.4% Trading business expenses 4.11 3.59 Trading business profit 5.12 3.08 Development projects (1.69) (1.14) Unallocated costs (eg central admin) (0.83) (0.60) Operating profit before finance costs after non-recurring items 2.60 2.17 Earnings per share The basic EPS figure of 0.32p reflects the recognition of a deferred tax asset in the period. The EPS figure reflects the investment made during the year in marketing and infrastructure expenses on the development projects. If the loan stock was converted into ordinary shares, the EPS would not be diluted because of the increase in earnings due to savings on the interest payable on the loan stock. Cash flow Although the operating profit was £2.60m, a one off increase in working capital associated with the acquisitions reduced the cash inflow from operating activities to £1.12m in 2006, compared with £1.79m in 2005. This reduction in cash flow also reflects increased investment in promotional and development opportunities. This was reinvested into the Group by way of £1.94m on the clinical development spend, an increase of £0.09m on 2005. Interest and capital repayments on the debt funding amounted to £2.16m and £0.70m respectively. This compares with £1.43m and £1.12m respectively in 2005. We raised additional funds of £2.39m, net of expenses, during the year by way of a placing of 14.7m shares. Intangible assets The further £1.94m invested in the development of Isprelor and Posidorm added to the previous spend of £3.08m, bringing the cumulative total to £5.02m. These costs meet the criteria set by IAS38 and have been capitalised. Each project has been re-examined to ensure that it is technically feasible and has ultimate commercial viability. Financial liabilities and convertible debt Financial liabilities increased over the year from £22.89m to £28.69m, including the Convertible Loan Stock at £7.21m. The increase was principally due to funding from Bank of Scotland for acquisitions made during the year. Of the total financial liabilities, 57.2% is subject to fixed interest rates. This is due to the Convertible Loan Stock interest being fixed and to other debt interest rate swaps which reduce our interest rate exposure. We have reduced the currency risk using a debt facility denominated in euros to match revenues arising in the Eurozone. Group income statement at 31 December 2006 Year ended 10 months ended 31 December 2006 31 December 2005 Note £ £ Revenue 17,252,942 12,275,888 Cost of sales (8,022,485) (5,601,143) Gross profit 9,230,457 6,674,745 Operating expenses Administration and marketing expense (6,595,007) (4,716,258) Share-based employee remuneration (33,941) (19,083) (6,628,948) (4,735,341) Operating profit pre non-recurring items 2,601,509 1,939,404 Non-recurring items 2 - 227,731 Operating profit 2,601,509 2,167,135 Finance costs Interest paid 3 (2,154,594) (1,366,747) Other finance costs 3 (65,405) (76,373) Change in fair value of derivative financial 4 109,574 (62,846) instruments (2,110,425) (1,505,966) Profit on ordinary activities before taxation 2 491,084 661,169 Taxation 11,456 - Profit for the year attributable to equity 502,540 661,169 shareholders Earnings per share Basic and diluted (pence) 0.32 0.45 All of the activities of the company are classed as continuing. There were no recognised gains or losses other than the profit for the financial period. Group balance sheet at 31 December 2006 31 December 31 December 31 December 31 December 2005 2006 2006 2005 Note £ £ £ £ Assets Non-current assets Goodwill 1,128,973 1,128,973 Intangible assets - Product licences 33,316,479 25,501,988 - Development costs 5,016,619 3,075,200 Property, plant and equipment 296,676 280,977 39,758,747 29,987,138 Current assets Inventories 2,852,125 2,739,869 Trade and other receivables 5,223,557 3,034,240 8,075,682 5,774,109 Total assets 47,834,429 35,761,247 Equity Ordinary share capital 1,620,618 1,473,559 Share premium account 11,274,650 9,030,959 Share option reserve 65,447 31,506 Reverse takeover reserve (329,349) (329,349) Retained earnings (2,199,577) (2,702,117) Total equity 10,431,789 7,504,558 Liabilities Non-current liabilities Long term financial liabilities 4 18,451,793 14,794,873 Convertible debt 7,208,714 7,167,100 Other liabilities 4 939,626 177,778 26,600,133 22,139,751 Current liabilities Cash and cash equivalents 2,606,660 899,066 Financial liabilities 3,031,407 933,749 Trade creditors and other payables 5,164,440 4,284,123 10,802,507 6,116,938 Total liabilities 37,402,640 28,256,689 Total equity and liabilities 47,834,429 35,761,247 Statement of changes in shareholders' equity at 31 December 2006 The accompanying accounting policies and notes form an integral part of these financial statements. Group statement of changes in shareholders' equity Share Share Shares to Reserves Retained Total capital premium be issued earnings equity £ £ £ £ £ £ Balance at 1 January 2006 1,473,559 9,030,959 31,506 (329,349) (2,702,117) 7,504,558 Issue of shares 147,059 - - - - 147,059 Premium on shares issued - 2,243,691 - - - 2,243,691 Employee benefits - - 33,941 - - 33,941 Profit for the period - - - - 502,540 502,540 Balance at 31 December 2006 1,620,618 11,274,650 65,447 (329,349) (2,199,577) 10,431,789 Balance at 1 March 2005 1,473,559 9,030,959 12,423 (329,349) (3,363,286) 6,824,306 Employee benefits - - 19,083 - - 19,083 Profit for the period - - - - 661,169 661,169 Balance at 31 December 2005 1,473,559 9,030,959 31,506 (329,349) (2,702,117) 7,504,558 Group and company cash flow statements at 31 December 2006 Group Company Year ended 31 10 months Year ended 31 10 months December 2006 ended December 2006 ended 31 December 31 December 2005 2005 Note £ £ £ £ Cash flows from operating activities Cash generated from operations 5 1,110,838 1,788,157 (2,643,909) (1,105,185) Tax refund 11,456 - - - Cash flows from operating activities 1,122,294 1,788,157 (2,643,909) (1,105,185) Investing activities Interest received 3 16,610 61,215 - - Payment of deferred consideration (20,000) - - - Development costs capitalised (1,941,419) (1,849,860) - - Purchase of property, plant and equipment (129,395) (82,778) - - Proceeds from divestment of Uniflu - 500,000 - - Proceeds from sales of property, plant and equipment 12,250 - - - Transactions costs on divestment of Uniflu - (32,000) - - Purchase of other intangible assets (6,814,491) (1,555) - - Net cash used in investing activities (8,876,445) (1,404,978) - - Financing activities Net proceeds from the issue of shares 2,390,750 - 2,390,750 - Interest paid and similar charges 3 (2,163,464) (1,426,319) - - Other finance charges paid 3 (1,090) (1,643) - - Receipt from borrowings 6,536,187 - - - Repayment of borrowings (704,195) (1,115,839) - - Finance lease payments (11,631) (13,904) - - Net cash received from/used in financing s activitie 6,046,557 (2,557,705) 2,390,750 - Net movement in cash and cash equivalents (1,707,594) (2,174,526) (253,159) (1,105,185) Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of (899,066) 1,275,460 262,086 1,367,271 the period Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the (2,606,660) (899,066) 8,927 262,086 period 1. Basis of preparation The financial information set out in the announcement does not constitute the Group's statutory accounts for the years ended 31 December 2006 or 31 December 2005. The financial information for the period ended 31 December 2005 is derived from the statutory accounts for that year which have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies as published on the group's website on 12 May 2006. The auditors reported on those accounts; their report was unqualified and did not contain a statement under s.237(2) or (3) Companies Act 1985. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2006 will be finalised on the basis of the financial information presented by the directors in this preliminary announcement and will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies. 2. Profit before taxation: Year ended 10 months 31 December 2006 ended 31 December 2005 £ After charging Auditors' remuneration - Group - audit services 40,250 30,500 - non-audit services 11,855 53,574 Auditors' remuneration - Company - audit services 11,000 8,500 - non-audit services 1,500 1,300 Employee benefit expense 33,941 19,083 Depreciation of tangible assets 112,462 108,374 Operating lease rentals 121,704 37,196 Loss on foreign exchange transactions - 12,547 After crediting 77,435 - Profit on foreign exchange transactions Non-recurring item - Gain on disposal of Uniflu less impairment of intangibles - 227,731 Non-audit services relate to tax advice and compliance fees of £12,905 and other of £450. 3. Finance costs - net Year ended 31 December 10 months 2006 ended 31 December 2005 £ Net interest and similar charges On loans and overdrafts (2,170,114) (1,426,319) Finance lease interest (1,090) (1,643) Interest income 16,610 61,215 (2,154,594) (1,366,747) Other finance charges Foreign exchange movement on long-term Euro denominated 54,770 (2,263) debt Amortised finance issue costs (120,175) (74,110) (65,405) (76,373) Finance costs - net (2,219,999) (1,443,120) 4. Financial instruments The Group uses financial instruments comprising borrowings, some cash and liquid resources, and various items such as trade debtors and trade creditors that arise directly from its operations. The main purpose of these financial instruments is to raise finance for the Group's operations. The Group also has a bank facility denominated in euros. The purpose of this facility is to manage the currency risk arising from the Group's operations. The main risks arising from the Group's financial instruments are interest rate risk, foreign currency risk and liquidity risk. The Board reviews and agrees policies for managing each of these risks and they are summarised below. These policies have remained unchanged from previous year. Interest rate swaps - change in fair value of derivative financial instruments Interest rate swaps have been remeasured at the period end by the Bank of Scotland treasury department, taking into account time to expiry and market factors. The change in the fair value has been taken to the income statement and disclosed separately below. Short-term debtors and creditors Short-term debtors and creditors have been excluded from all the following disclosures other than currency risk disclosures. Interest rate risk The Group finances its operations through a mixture of debt and equity. The interest rate exposure of the financial liabilities of the Group as at 31 December 2006 was: Fixed Floating Total £ £ £ At 31 December 2006 Sterling 16,063,469 13,730,693 29,794,162 Change in fair value of financial instruments (46,728) - (46,728) Euro 2,302,186 - 2,302,186 * 18,318,927 13,730,693 32,049,620 At 31 December 2005 Sterling 19,735,576 2,606,250 22,341,826 Change in fair value of financial instruments 62,846 - 62,846 Euro 2,688,702 - 2,688,702 * 22,487,124 2,606,250 25,093,374 * The value of financial liabilities shown above does not include unamortised issue costs amounting to £518,792 (Period ended 31 December 2005: £504,750) which are included in the book values shown in the maturity analysis. Fixed rate financial liabilities Weighted average fixed rate % Weighted average period for which rate is fixed At 31 December 2006 Sterling 7.50 5.95 years At 31 December 2005 Sterling 7.11 4.32 years The floating rate borrowings bear interest at rates based on LIBOR. The fixed rate borrowings relate to bank debt, on which interest rate swaps which mature on the 29 February 2008 have been taken out and convertible unsecured loan stock. The Group balance sheet also includes material financial assets in the form of cash at bank and in hand totalling £232,254 (31 December 2005: £793,836) which are exposed to floating interest rates based on LIBOR. Currency risk The group is exposed to transaction foreign exchange risk. The Group seeks to hedge its exposures using a bank facility denominated in euros, with the objective of minimising fluctuations in exchange rates on future transactions and cash flows. The amount of loans denominated in euros is disclosed in the interest rate risk table above. Approximately 25% of the Group's sales are to overseas customers in the EU. These sales are calculated in sterling, but invoiced in euros. The Group policy is to minimise currency exposures on balances for which settlement is not anticipated until a later date through the use of the euro bank facility. All other Group sales are denominated in sterling. Liquidity risk The Group seeks to manage financial risk, to ensure sufficient liquidity is available to meet the identifiable needs of the Group and to invest cash assets safely and profitably. Short-term flexibility is achieved through the use of the bank overdraft facilities. Maturity of financial liabilities The maturity profile of the Group's financial liabilities at 31 December 2006 is as follows: 31 December 2006 31 December 2005 Finance Bank borrowings Finance Bank borrowings leases and leases and other loans other loans £ £ £ £ Change in fair value of financial instruments - (46,728) - 62,846 In one year, or less 4,248 5,866,153 10,539 2,616,113 In more than one year, but not more than two - 3,828,112 5,269 4,380,244 In more than two years, but not more than five - 11,986,247 - 10,346,513 In more than five years - 9,892,796 - 7,167,100 4,248 31,526,580 15,808 24,572,816 Borrowing facilities The group had £nil (31 December 2005: £nil) undrawn committed borrowing facilities available at 31 December 2006. The Group's overdraft facility is not fully utilised at the period end. The fair value of the financial instruments is not materially different from the book value. After the year end the Group restructured its bank borrowings and, under the new arrangement the maturity profile of the Group's financial liabilities at 31 December 2006 would be as follows: 31 December 2006 Finance leases Bank borrowings and other loans £ £ Change in fair value of financial instruments - (46,728) In one year, or less 4,248 2,838,914 In more than one year, but not more than two - 1,836,728 In more than two years, but not more than five - 5,779,073 In more than five years - 21,118,593 4,248 31,526,580 5. Cash generated from operations Group Company Year ended 31 10 months Year ended 31 10 months December 2006 ended 31 December 2006 ended 31 December December 2005 2005 £ Result for the period before tax and finance costs 2,601,509 2,167,135 151,649 254,984 Depreciation of property, plant and equipment 112,462 108,374 - - Change in inventories (112,256) (270,506) - - Profit on disposal of fixed assets (11,016) - - - Change in trade and other receivables (2,189,317) (884,627) (2,703,558) 44,710 Change in trade and other payables 675,515 876,429 (125,941) (1,423,962) Write-off intangible assets - 120,269 - - Gain on divestment of Uniflu - (348,000) - - Share options charges 33,941 19,083 33,941 19,083 Cash flows from operating activities 1,110,838 1,788,157 (2,643,909) (1,105,185) 6. Post balance sheet events After the year end the Group restructured its bank borrowings (see note 4). In March 2007 the Group acquired the rights to Forceval in China. The acquisition was made in conjunction with the Chinese distributor of the product, in a joint venture company, of which Alliance holds 60%. The acquisition price was £3.25m with Alliance paying a 60% share at £1.95m. Sales of Forceval to China were £1.9m in 2006, having grown from £1.2m in 2005. Funding for the acquisition, which is expected to be earnings enhancing in the year to 31 December 2007, was via senior debt provided by the Bank of Scotland. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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