Drug developers require a steady stream of positive clinical updates to underpin market valuations. Circassia Pharmaceuticals (CIR) provided shareholders with precisely that a month ahead of these full-year figures when it revealed that US regulators had given the green light to two of its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) treatments.
It is too early to say whether the news has arrested the share price decline of the previous 12-months, but given that very few UK-sponsored drugs have been approved in the US in the past few years, so the news - particularly in relation to the Duaklir drug - would not have gone unnoticed amongst the sector heavyweights. The drugs are complementary in that patients using its existing COPD treatment Tudorza (which got the go-ahead for the inclusion of new clinical data on its label) can move on to Duaklir if their condition deteriorates without needing to change their inhaler device.
Bloomberg consensus gives revenues of £64.5m for the December 2019 year-end, with an accompanying adjusted earnings loss of 7.6p a share, before £84.8m and a 5.2p loss in the following year.
| CIRCASSIA PHARMACEUTICALS (CIR) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 32p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 120m | |
| TOUCH: | 31.2-32p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 98p | LOW: 25p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | NA | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 34p* | NET CASH: | £40.7m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014 | nil | -44.0 | -21 | nil |
| 2015 | 10.8 | -62.8 | -20 | nil |
| 2016 | 23.1 | -38.8 | -48 | nil |
| 2017 (restated) | 46.3 | -74.2 | -19 | nil |
| 2018 | 48.3 | -55.8 | -14 | nil |
| % change | +4 | - | - | - |
| Ex-div: | - | |||
| Payment: | - | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £231m, or 61.5p a share. | ||||
