Hikma upbeat despite US setback

UK-listed Jordanian drugmaker Hikma gave an upbeat picture of its trading for 2008 thus far, even though it admitted to difficulties in the US generics market noting that it has been seeing favorable demographics in the Middle East/North Africa region.

The company says that sales continued to increase steadily in the period, around 32% in the nine months to September 30, with additional revenue coming from the integration of APM and Hikma Egypt, which continued to perform extremely well. It adds that it is confident of delivering growth above 30% for the full year.

The company's branded and injectables businesses have continued to drive growth. The latter benefited from strong demand, although revenue from the sector in European markets was less than expected, reflecting lower volumes and increased pricing pressure, and this is expected to continue through the end of the 2008. However, the firm predicts branded revenue growth of around 60% for the full-year 2008. In generics, where difficult trading conditions in the USA led to a loss for the first half of the year, efforts to improve operating performance are ongoing and the firm says this has begun to have an effect.