LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - A $920m impairment charge on Hikma Pharmaceuticals' West-Ward Columbus business led to the company reporting a hefty $738m full year pre-tax loss on Wednesday.
This compares with a profit of $210m a year earlier. Revenue was flat $1.94bn.

Hikma blamed "intense" pricing pressure and "the increasingly competitive dynamics of the US market" for the hit on its generics business.

"This was further impacted by the delay in approval for our generic version of Advair Diskus," the company said.

Hikma said it expected lower revenues and profitability from newly launched products as well as higher price erosion on its currently marketed portfolio.

"The outlook for West-Ward Columbus revenue and profitability over the medium term is lower than previously expected," the company said.

Hikma reported a basic loss per share of 351.3 cents, compared to earnings per share of 66.5 cents in 2016. The full year dividend was lifted to 34 cents a share, up from 33 cents.

The company said it expected injectables revenue in 2018 to be in the range of $750m - $800m, as increased competition in the US is offset by new launches and continued growth in the Middle East & North Africa and Europe.

It added that it expected generics revenues in 2018 to be $550m - $600m and core generics operating margin in the low single digits before adjustments.

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