London: Drug developer Vectura Group Plc reported a 20 percent rise in full-year revenue, ahead of analysts’ expectations, helped by higher royalty payments and an increase in licensing revenue.
The company, which develops and markets drugs for respiratory illnesses such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said revenue rose to £36.5m in the year ended March 31 from £30.5m a year earlier.
Pretax loss narrowed to £4.8m ($8.1m) from £10.4m a year earlier. Nearly half of Vectura’s revenue came in from royalties from partners including Switzerland’s Novartis, Sandoz, and GlaxoSmithKline Plc.
Shares in the company rose as much as 3.5 percent in morning trade on the London Stock Exchange. “We see the shares performing well over the next 12 months as the market gains increasing confidence in the revenue growth, with Novartis quarterly sales updates likely to be key catalysts,” Peel Hunt analyst Stefan Hamill said in a note to clients.
Royalty revenue rose 25 percent to 16.3 million pounds, mainly from Novartis relating to sales of the Seebri Breezhaler.
The company also earned milestone revenue of 7.8 million pounds following the approval of Ultibro Breezhaler in Europe and Japan, and £3.7m following the approval of AirFluSal Forspiro in Germany, Romania and Belgium.
“The key products have started to roll out on the commercialization front, and are now starting to bring in good royalties for us. That will build and that will very much underpin our business moving forward,” Chief Executive Chris Blackwell said.
Reuters
