A particularly strong fourth quarter, aided by a healthy contribution from newly-acquired Advanced BioHealing (ABH), helped Shire Pharmaceuticals break the $4bn (£2.5bn) sales barrier for the first time and cement its place as the fastest growing of the UK's big pharmaceutical companies.
ABH contributed total sales of $105m (£66.5m) since its acquisition in June, but it was Shire's traditional product portfolio that delivered the overall revenue growth. Product sales were up 26 per cent to $3.95bn as attention deficit medicines Vyvanse (sales 27 per cent higher at $805m) and Adderall XR (sales up 48 per cent to $533m), in particular, emphasised the strength of Shire's brand in the US market. Specialised medicines also performed well – for example, enzyme-replacement therapy Replagal gained at the expense of rival medicine Cerezyme after its maker Genzyme, now owned by Sanofi-Aventis, suffered months of production problems at a key manufacturing plant. Replagal sales rose were up over a third to $475m.
Management's outlook was positive for sales and earnings growth, but noted that gross profit margins would be slightly lower in 2012 as the ABH acquisition is integrated.
Deutsche Bank expects 2012 adjusted EPS will grow to around 127p, up from 100p in 2011.
SHIRE PHARMACEUTICALS (SHP) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 2,148p | MARKET VALUE: | £12.1bn | |
| TOUCH: | 2,143-2,146p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 2,278p | LOW: 1,610p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.44% | PE RATIO: | 22 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 566¢* | NET DEBT: | 15% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($bn) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 2.44 | -1,398 | -269 | 8.6 |
| 2008 | 3.02 | 266 | 32 | 9.9 |
| 2009 | 3.01 | 643 | 93 | 11.4 |
| 2010 | 3.12 | 769 | 108 | 13.1 |
| 2011 | 3.95 | 1,090 | 157 | 15.1 |
| % change | +27 | +42 | +45 | +15 |
Ex-div: 7 Mar Payment: 12 Apr *Includes intangible assets of $3.08bn, or 549¢ a share £1=$1.58 | ||||
