"The fiscal stimulus included a lot of extra money for medical research (around $10bn in 2009)," said Jonathan Milner, chief executive of Abcam, as demand from researchers for the company's catalogue of antibodies, proteins and peptides saw impressive underlying revenue growth of 25 per cent.
North America remained Abcam's most important market, and half-year sales there rose 20 per cent to £13.9m. Europe was strong, too, as sales climbed 22 per cent to £9.2m, thanks to strength in its largest market, Germany. Even the UK turned in a "satisfactory" 13 per cent sales increase to £2.5m, despite charitable foundations cutting back on research spending as the recession hit donations.
But, the most eye-catching growth was in Asia, where Abcam now has distribution agreements in mainland China. After opening a new Hong Kong sales and marketing office in July, sales in the country leapt 87 per cent to £1.3m, and Mr Milner was bullish on prospects. "Growth is coming from a low base, but we still see China as a huge potential market. Probably 10 per cent of global antibody demand is now there," he said. Abcam also increased its product portfolio by 21 per cent to 57,960.
Broker Investec expects adjusted pre-tax of £23.5m and EPS of 47.8p this year (from £17.4m and 36.3p in 2009).
ABCAM (ABC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 1,100p | MARKET VALUE: | £395m | |
| TOUCH: | 1,081-1,115p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,130p | LOW: 538p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.3% | PE RATIO: | 25 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 119p | NET CASH: | £33m | |
| Half-year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Net div per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 23.1 | 6.82 | 14.3 | 2.71 |
| 2009 | 31.8 | 11.2 | 23.3 | 5.42 |
| % change | +38 | +64 | +63 | +100 |
Ex-div: 17 Mar Payment: 01 Apr | ||||
