REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Nov. 9, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Actavis Group ("ACT"), the international generic pharmaceuticals company, announces its results for the third quarter ended 30 September, 2006.
Highlights -- Third Quarter 2006
Reported revenue in the third quarter doubled to EUR 323.8 million (3Q 2005: EUR 160.9 million), reflecting a strong performance in Central and Eastern Europe during the quarter. As anticipated underlying revenue fell by 3.4% (3Q 2005 pro forma: EUR 335.2 million) primarily due to a difficult trading environment in Western Europe.
-- Sales in Central & Eastern Europe and Asia ("CEEA") were EUR
124.5 million (3Q 2005 pro forma: EUR 117.2 million), with
pro-forma underlying growth of 6.3% in the quarter and 13.4% in
the year to date. Sales of the oncology portfolio registered a
particularly strong performance with 27.3% underlying growth in
the quarter over 2005.
-- Sales in North America were EUR 102.8 million which was in line
with management expectations. This represented an underlying fall
of 6.0%, following the exceptionally strong performance of in the
third quarter in 2005. For the first nine months sales in North
America have underlying growth of 8.7%.
-- Sales in Western Europe, Middle East and Africa were EUR 65.5
million, a fall of 4.3% on a pro-forma basis, and Third Party
sales declined 32.9 % to EUR 28.6 million.
-- EBITDA margin was 20.3% in the quarter and underlying net income
rose by 24.5% to EUR 28.9 million.
-- Underlying earnings per share (fully diluted) was EUR 0.00561
(EUR 0.00679). For the first nine months, underlying EPS of EUR
0.01749 is up 19.5% over 2005.
-- Including the PLIVA-related net costs, net income fell to EUR 8.2
million in the third quarter (3Q 2005: EUR 23.2 million) and
earnings per share (fully diluted) was - EUR 0.00072 (3Q 2005:
0.00679).
-- 65 product and market launches (49 molecules) in the quarter and
262 for the year to date.
Actavis President and CEO, Robert Wessman, commented:
"The overall performance of the business is in line with our expectations and financial guidance for the quarter. This has been achieved despite Western Europe becoming even more competitive, which impacted both our own label and Third party sales. Our strong focus on maximising efficiencies across the Group and maintaining strict controls on our cost base has helped us to deliver our strong EBITDA margin and profit targets.
We have already identified a number of exciting acquisition opportunities to expand and build our business in new growth areas, two of which we hope to announce before the year end. At the same time, we continue to make excellent progress integrating recent acquisitions and consolidating our operations to reduce overheads and unnecessary costs. We are confident that this progress keeps us on track to meet our guidance for the full year."