There's certainly an air of bullishness in the tag-line of Clinigen's (CLIN) full-year results as it boasts a "transformational year" with adjusted EPS up a quarter. That's not a bad legacy for chief executive Peter George, who has presented his last full-year results and is making way for deputy Shaun Chilton to take the reins in November.
That earnings growth is in part a reflection of the integration of two acquisitions made in 2015 which have had a particular impact on Clinigen's managed and global access businesses. Idis has helped these divisions sign up new deals with some of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies, while Link provides geographical expansion into Asia, Africa and Australia. Accordingly, these divisions both achieved a more than twofold increase in gross profit.
Organic growth was equally impressive, particularly in the speciality pharma and clinical trials divisions where pro-forma gross profit rose 10 per cent and 21 per cent respectively. Operational cash generation at £49.4m is 213 per cent up on last year and brought net debt down to £68.1m. This is ahead of previous forecasts despite £28.5m of cash spent on Link and new pharma products which are expected to further enhance growth.
Broker Numis expects pre-tax profit of £62.5m for the year to June 2017, leading to adjusted EPS of 41.2p, up from £51.2m and 34.6p in FY2016.
CLINIGEN (CLIN) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 678p | MARKET VALUE: | £778m | |
| TOUCH: | 650-700p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 734p | LOW: 493p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.6% | PE RATIO: | 57 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 206p* | NET DEBT | 29% | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 82 | 10.3 | 13.2 | nil |
| 2013 | 123 | 14.5 | 15.1 | 2.6 |
| 2014 | 127 | 21.3 | 19.6 | 3.1 |
| 2015 | 184 | 8.3 | 6.5 | 3.4 |
| 2016 | 340 | 15.9 | 11.9 | 4.0 |
| % change | +85 | +92 | +83 | +18 |
Ex-div: 3 Nov Payment: 25 Nov *Includes intangible assets of £334m, or 291p a share | ||||
