Four-Month Results At Wellcome As Expected

Wellcome has said that its financial results for the four-month and 10-month periods from March to the end of June 1994 were in line with expectations. It has been difficult to compare results because of the four-month extension to bring Wellcome's year-end to December 31.

Sales for the four months were L690 million ($1.08 billion), up 13% compared with the like, year-earlier period. For the 10 months to June 30 sales were 1.77 billion, up 8%. Four-month pretax profits grew 12% to L182 million, and for the 10-month period they were L546 million, ahead 12%. Earnings per share were 12.7 pence for the four-month period, and 38.4 pence for the 10-month period, both increasing 11%. Wellcome took an exceptional charge in the four-month period of L52 million relating to the reorganization of its business following the establishment of the consumer health care business Warner Wellcome. Sales from the business are included in these interim results.

Prescription drug sales amounted to L558 million from March to June. Sales of the antiherpes agent Zovirax (aciclovir) were up 17% to L270 million in the four-month period, and grew 15% to L688 million in 10 months. The product has recently met competition in the UK from SmithKline Beecham's antiviral Famvir (famciclovir). Wellcome said that the introduction of the product has expanded the herpes zoster market and that prescriptions of Zovirax for shingles rose 13%. A Wellcome spokesperson told the Marketletter that competition from Famvir is not too worrying because the product has been shown only to be as good as aciclovir, and that Wellcome has follow-up product Valtrex (valaciclovir) which it claims has greater efficacy than Zovirax. In the UK, Famvir holds 15% of prescriptions to treat shingles, and Zovirax 85%, said Wellcome.