Dechra Pharmaceuticals posts rise in quarterly revenues

Dechra Pharmaceuticals reported an increase in revenue in the first three months of the year as a rise in Europe sales offset a fall in the US.

Group revenue for its third quarter was up 14.6% ahead of last year, according to a trading update Wednesday.

For the nine months ended March 31st, group revenue increased 18.4% compared to the previous year.

A 69.8% jump in quarterly revenues in the European Pharmaceuticals segment drove results. The division climbed 69.7% in the nine-month period.

The acquisition of Eurovet Animal Health last May boosted revenues.

Companion animal products for the nine months to the end of March grew by 11.0% on a like-for-like basis.

Farm animal products, which continued to be affected by a focus on the reduction of antibiotics in Europe, rose by 1.0%. Pet diet jumped 2.0%.

In the US, revenue declined 14.4% in the quarter and were broadly flat in the nine month period, reflecting supply problems from a third party manufacturer. Customer back orders exceeded $1.0m.

Services segment revenues dropped 2.5% in the quarter, due to a weak performance in the UK veterinary market. Poor weather resulted in significantly reduced footfall through veterinary practices.

Revenue for the nine months was, however, was 2.7% ahead of the previous year.

"The strong performance reported in the first half of thefinancial year has been partly offset by a weaker than expected third quarter which was affected by poor weather in Northern Europe and third party supply problems within the US," the company said.

The company said it does not anticipate that the third quarter's performance will materially impact its expectations for the full year as trading picked up in April.

Shares fell 2.25% to 696p at 09:40 Wednesday.

RD