Alliance Pharma PLC (LON:APH) tripled its dividend for 2020 and said the new year started well as it integrates the substantial acquisition of Biogix and eyes other opportunities to add to its portfolio.
The AIM-listed company, which focuses on the acquisition and licensing of pharmaceutical and healthcare products, has proposed a final dividend payment of 1.074p per share for the past year, giving a total dividend of 1.610p compared to 0.536p a year ago.
This follows a year when sales of consumer healthcare brands improved to partly offset a decline in prescription medicine as routine treatments were delayed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sales of Kelo-cote, for scar prevention and treatment revenues, were up 12% and Nizoral, a medicated anti-dandruff shampoo, rose 4% to contribute to a 1% increase in overall consumer healthcare see-through revenues to £93mln.
But a 12% fall in prescription medicine to £44.5mln led to statutory revenues falling 4% to £129.8m.
Underlying profit before tax, excluding the costs of the Biogix deal and non-cash impairments, increased 2% to £33.5mln, while reported pre-tax profits fell 58% to £13mln.
Free cash flow was strong however, at £34.1mln, while cash generated from operations swelled 19% to £46.4mln.
The Biogix purchase in December added the highly successful and fast-growing Amberen brand, which chief executive Peter Butterfield said has added significant scale to US operations.
“Through maintaining good control of our operating costs, we have continued to deliver a resilient underlying operating performance and our free cash flow has also remained very strong, enabling us to pay down more of our debt than expected ahead of completing the Biogix acquisition,” he said.
“This strategically significant acquisition bears testament to our ability to continue to deliver on our longer-term growth strategy, notwithstanding the global pandemic.”
Butterfield said 2021 has started well and the board remain confident in the group’s ability to continue to deliver a strong operational and financial performance, in line with market expectations.
“We look forward to regaining the strong momentum and revenue growth that the group has enjoyed in recent years, whilst also benefiting from the additional scale and future growth opportunities that Amberen brings.
“Whilst our near-term focus will be on integrating Biogix into our existing US business, we will continue to look for opportunities to selectively add to our portfolio in line with our strategy of acquiring consumer healthcare brands in international markets in which we already have a presence."