Following the introduction of International Reporting Standard IFRS 11, the latest results from Hutchison China Meditech (HCM) are quite different to previous ones. But this change to accounting for joint ventures did not faze investors, who pushed up the share price by 5 per cent on publication of the results.
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As in previous periods, all the profit has come from the China healthcare division. That was, in part, thanks to strong demand for cardiovascular prescription drugs and antiviral over the counter pills. In contrast, the game-changing botanical-based drugs division reported a slightly higher loss, even though revenues rocketed, thanks to receipt of several milestone payments from big pharma.