Respiratory medicines maker Vectura Group PLC (LON:VEC) posted a wider loss for the nine months to the end of 2016, reflecting charges related to its £441mln merger with Skyepharma.
The loss before tax rose to £40.1mln from a loss of £1.9mln in the previous period.
The wider loss was due to an amortisation charge of £64.0mln and exceptional items of £9.4mln, driven by its takeover of sector peer Skyepharma.
Vectura paid £52.1mln to the former shareholders of Skyepharma along with exceptional charges of £11.9mln. The remaining consideration was settled by a transfer of shares.
Vectura completed its acquisition on Skyepharma last June, saying it believes the merger of the two UK companies will lead to cost savings and their products, including asthma inhalers, will be complementary.
“The merger integration is well advanced and we remain confident of delivering the committed synergy targets as a minimum,” chief executive James Warn-Lilley said alongside today’s results.
“The new organisational structure is in place, the portfolio review completed and promising new pipeline projects commenced.”
Revenue in the nine-month period jumped 75.7% to £126.5mln from £72.0mln, boosted by the launch of seven inhaled products and the addition of Skyepharma.
The group ended the year with cash of £92.5mln, compared to £99.8mln at the end of March. Net cash inflows from operating activities fell to £28.2mln from £32.9mln.
"We look forward to 2017 with confidence given the strength of our capabilities and established in-market performance with further newsflow on our generic and novel programmes alongside further additional business development partnering,” said Ward-Lilley.
Numis said Vectura's shortened 2016 results are slightly ahead of its expectations in terms of revenue and underlying earnings. The broker reiterated a 'buy' rating and target price of 225p, noting Skyepharma's contribution to the group's growth.
"For us, this illustrates the transformative effect of the merger in a nutshell: SkyePharma providing near-term cash generation to fund the strategic evolution of the business and Vectura the pipeline to drive the next legs of growth," Numis said.
Shares rose 5.65% to 166.43p in morning trading.
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