AGM and IMS

RNS Number : 5258U

Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc

15 May 2008

 



AGM and Interim Management Statement

London, 15 May 2008 - Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC ('Hikma') (LSE:HIK)(DIFX:HIK), the fast growing multinational pharmaceutical group focused on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad range of generic and in-licensed pharmaceutical products, will hold its AGM at 11:00am today, where the following statement will be made regarding its current trading and financial position. This constitutes its Interim Management Statement relating to the period from 1 January 2008 to 14 May 2008 as required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. 

In the four months to 30 April 2008, Group sales grew by over 35%.  The Branded and Injectables businesses have continued to drive growth in the Group and we remain confident of delivering another year of strong performance in 2008.

Our Branded business continues to deliver strong organic growth in line with our expectations, with further growth coming from our acquisitions in the MENA region.  This has helped us to achieve market share gains in many of our key markets. Hikma Egypt and APM in Jordan have been successfully integrated and we have made the expected productivity and process improvements. Both of these acquisitions are performing well.  

Our global Injectables business has delivered strong revenue growth in the year to date.  Like others we are experiencing an increase in pricing pressure in the German market, but we remain confident of delivering improved operating margins for the full year.  We have made excellent progress in expanding our US product portfolio, with 4 ANDA approvals year to date, and in Europe and the MENA region we have received a further 6 and 10 approvals, respectively. As the year progresses, we expect further growth as we launch these new products across the Injectables business.

As anticipated at the time of our preliminary announcement on 18 March 2008, our US Generics business has continued to feel the impact of pricing pressure and we have seen a significant decline in gross margin.  Our strengthened management team in the US is working to increase the product mix towards higher margin products and to lower our manufacturing costs by dedicating additional capacity in Jordan for the US and by sourcing lower cost API.  

On 17 January 2008 we successfully raised gross proceeds of approximately $160 million in an equity placing of shares, strengthening our balance sheet and enhancing our flexibility to finance future growth.   

We will announce our interim results for the six months to 30 June 2008 on 28 August 2008.

Enquiries:

Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC    

Tel: [phone]

Susan Ringdal, Investor Relations Director  

Brunswick Group    

Jon Coles / Justine McIlroy / Alex Tweed      

Tel: [phone]

About Hikma

Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC is a fast growing multinational group focused on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad range of both branded and non-branded generic and in-licensed pharmaceutical products. Hikma's operations are conducted through three businesses: 'Branded', 'Injectables' and 'Generics'. Hikma's operations are based principally in the Middle East and North Africa ('MENA') region, where it is a market leader and sells across 17 countries, the United States and Europe. In 2007, the Group achieved revenues of $449 million (2006 $317 million) and profit attributable to shareholders was $63 million (2006 $55 million). For news and other information, please visit www.hikma.com.

 

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