Hikma Pharmaceuticals has raised its full-year guidance thanks to the strong performance of several newer generic products.
The FTSE 100 drugs company said that it expected generics revenue of between $810 million and $830 million this year, up from the $770 million to $810 million previously forecast, and for the business’s core operating margin to be between 22 per cent and 24 per cent, up from 20 per cent.
Guidance for branded and injectables revenue growth in the mid-single-digits at a constant currency level remained unchanged.
Margins on some newer products such as Zortress, a generic medicine used to prevent rejection of organs in kidney and liver transplants, benefited from a lack of competitors in the first half. Four new generic products were launched during the first six months of the year, including Advair Diskus, which is used to treat asthma.
Group core operating profit was up 15 per cent over the first half of the year to $309 million and the operating margin edged ahead by 1.8 percentage points to 25.4 per cent.
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However, a 7 per cent rise in revenue over the first half was slightly behind the 9 per cent reported a year previously, as a stronger performance for the generics and branded businesses was offset by a slowdown for injectables used to treat Covid-19.
Revenue for this division, the largest contributor to the group, was broadly flat, after a fall in sales in the American market.
Hikma’s shares fell by 187p, or 7.1 per cent, to £24.55.
