BTG (BTG) enjoyed such a successful first half that management now expects revenue for the full year to be at the top end of the guided range of £330m-£345m. The specialist pharma group delivered double-digit sales growth across all three of its divisions - interventional medicine, speciality pharmaceuticals and licensing - and there were also promising developments in the drugs pipeline.
In August BTG reported the first commercial sales of varicose veins treatment Varithena. The programme should have signed up 200 doctors by the year-end. Ekos, the bloodclot treatment business snapped up by BTG last year, received FDA clearance to treat patients with pulmonary embolism. The group's embolic bead liver cancer treatment, DC Bead, was approved for use in the lucrative Chinese market, while phase III trials for liver treatment TheraSphere, acquired by BTG last year, have been accelerated for pre-market approval in the US.
Business in speciality pharmaceuticals raced ahead, too, thanks to BTG's venom antidotes and other anti-toxicity drugs. With momentum continuing into the second half, chief executive Louise Makin said the group remained on track to hit its $1bn sales target in interventional medicine by 2021. Peel Hunt expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £62.8m for the full year, giving EPS of 13p - down from £69.7m and 14p as a result of increased research spending and a one-off legal settlement.
| BTG (BTG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 748p | MARKET VALUE: | £2.7bn | |
| TOUCH: | 747-749p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 763p | LOW: 414p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | 69 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 160p* | NET CASH: | £78m | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 153 | 32.7 | 6.8 | nil |
| 2014 | 191 | 37.6 | 10.8 | nil |
| % change | +25 | +15 | +59 | - |
Ex-div: na Payment: na *Includes intangible assets of £518m, or 143p a share | ||||
