ALLSCHWIL, Switzerland, Feb. 12, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Actelion Ltd (SWX: ATLN) announced today that the US-GAAP compliant statements for the years 2001, 2002 (including footnotes) and the first 9 months 2003 are now available on the company's website http://www.actelion.com.
In late October 2003, Actelion announced that it is moving from the accounting standard IFRS to US GAAP to facilitate the comparison of its performance with its peer group of leading biotech/biopharmaceutical companies that almost exclusively report according to US GAAP. Actelion will continue to report in Swiss Francs (CHF), as this is the functional currency of the company.
Andrew Oakley, Chief Financial Officer of Actelion, commented: "As the two accounting standards differ in a number of areas, there are changes to both the company's past and future reporting. Nevertheless, while accounting policies change, the underlying nature and the quality of our business remains unchanged."
FY 03 outlook - Hesperion sale concluded - In-process R&D charge for Axovan On 9th February 2004, the sale of Hesperion to Cerep was successfully concluded. In its FY 2003 numbers to be published on 2nd March 2004, Actelion will therefore report Hesperion as a discontinued operation.
As a result of continuing strong Tracleer(r) sales -- and taking into consideration the accounting-only impact of both the Hesperion disposal and the US-GAAP related changes -- Actelion expects to report Full Year 2003 operating revenues at the higher end of the guidance range of between CHF 290 million to CHF 310 million.
Total operating expenses will be impacted by a major in-process R&D charge in Q4 2003 of CHF 47 million, related to the Axovan acquisition. While the company expects to report again positive operational cash flow for Q4 2003 as well as the year 2003, the operational result for FY 2003 will be a small, low single-digit operational loss, this the result of the above-mentioned, non-cash effective in-process R&D charge as well as reporting Hesperion as a discontinued operation.
Note to the Investment community:
Full details of the move to US GAAP are contained in the US-GAAP compliant statements for the years 2001, 2002 (including footnotes) and the first 9 months 2003 available under http://www.actelion.com. A background fact sheet is also available under the same address. To further assist the investor community in their re-modeling efforts, Actelion will also hold a brief technical Investor Conference call today with the Chief Accountant to discuss the US-GAAP related accounting changes.
Actelion Ltd
Actelion Ltd is a biopharmaceutical company with its corporate headquarter in Allschwil/Basel, Switzerland. Actelion's first drug Tracleer(r), an orally available dual endothelin receptor antagonist, has been approved as a therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension. Actelion markets Tracleer(r) through its own subsidiaries in key markets worldwide, including the United States (based in South San Francisco), the European Union as well as Canada and Switzerland. Actelion, founded in late 1997, is a leading player in innovative science related to the endothelium - the single layer of cells separating every blood vessel from the blood stream. Actelion focuses on the discovery, development and marketing of innovative drugs for significant unmet medical needs. Actelion shares are traded on the SWX Swiss Exchange (ticker symbol: ATLN).
For further information please contact:
Actelion Ltd, Gewerbestrasse 16, CH-4123 Allschwil
Investor Contact Roland Haefeli +41 61 487 34 81
+1 650 624-6936
Media Contact Peter Engel +41 61 487 36 28
http:// www.actelion.com
Conference Call
Actelion will host an Investor Conference Call and
discussion/Q&A on Thursday, 12 February 2004,
15.30 CET / 14.30 GMT / 09.30 a.m. EST.
Dial: +41 (0) 91 610 56 00 (Europe)
+1 412 858 4600 (U.S.)
+44 207 107 06 11 (U.K.)
Webcast - Live and replay on demand
Actelion webcasts its Investor Conference Call. On the Web,
you may either follow the call live or have the call replayed
later on demand.
To access the webcast, simply visit the link on our homepage
http://www.actelion.com/ for further information.
Actelion's upcoming events in March 2004:
2 March 2004 07.00hrs CET - Media Release on
Full Year Results 2003
2 March 2004 Media and Analyst Conference at
Unique Conference Center in Zurich
For further information please see our website http://www.actelion.com/