There's a new chief at the helm but it's business as usual for speciality pharma group Clinigen (CLIN), which reported adjusted gross profit and earnings up 34 per cent and 31 per cent, respectively, in these half-year numbers. Shaun Chilton's plans for the group are much the same as his predecessor's, although he's planning on refining the strategy for geographical growth, particularly the underserved African market. In December, Clinigen teamed up with Japanese pharma group Eisai to provide South African women access to breast cancer drug Halaven for the first time.
Drug sales remain an unimportant metric for Clinigen, as many of the treatments it provides are given to patients free of charge. Instead, the group earns fees from big pharma clients. A higher mix of this type of business dented the top line, but margins have improved thanks to a bigger contribution from high-quality contracts in the clinical trials division, where gross profit rose by a quarter. Link and Idis - two recently acquired businesses - made strong contributions in their first full six-month periods, too.
Broker Peel Hunt expects pre-tax profit of £45.4m for the year to December 2017, giving EPS of 41.3p (from £46m and 34.7p in FY2016).
CLINIGEN (CLIN) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 848p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 976m | |
| TOUCH: | 815-875p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 874p | LOW: 493p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.5% | PE RATIO: | 66 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 207p* | NET DEBT: | 30% | |
| Half-year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 156 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 1.3 |
| 2016 | 131 | 4.2 | 2.3 | 1.6 |
| % change | -16 | +91 | +64 | +23 |
Ex-div: 23 Mar Payment: 13 Apr *Includes intangible assets of £329m, or 286p a share | ||||
