Clinigen (CLIN) shares hardly budged on the release of these half-year numbers, but that should come as little surprise. Key figures – including gross and cash profit – had been pre-announced, while the stock was marked-up following the recent $210m (£163m) acquisition of US rights to cancer drug Proleukin from Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN). So there's plenty of positive sentiment bound up with the share price.
While acquisitions have driven Clinigen's growth in recent months, the market was no doubt pleased to see a 10 per cent rise in organic gross profit from the unlicensed medicines division. This was partly offset by a 3 per cent contraction in clinical supply and a 6 per cent dent in the commercial division, although chief executive Shaun Chilton blamed tough comparative figures, generic competition and a sluggish US market. In his view, none of these problems is “permanent or material”.
Analysts at Peel Hunt expect pre-tax profits of £91.3m for the year ending June 2019, giving EPS of 55.2p, compared with £68.7m and 45.5p in FY2018.
| CLINIGEN (CLIN) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 926p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 1.22bn | |
| TOUCH: | 924-930p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,065p | LOW: 716p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.6% | PE RATIO: | 45 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 330p* | NET DEBT: | 44% | |
| Half-year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2017 | 168 | 15.8 | 10.2 | 1.76 |
| 2018 | 209 | 12.9 | 7.7 | 1.95 |
| % change | +24 | -18 | -25 | +11 |
| Ex-div: | 21 Mar | |||
| Payment: | 12 Apr | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £681m or 515p a share | ||||
