LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Hikma Pharmaceuticals upgraded full-year guidance for its generics arm and reported a rise in first-half profit and revenue as it hailed a strong performance in both the generics and branded segments, and resilience in the injectables business.
Reported pre-tax profit rose to $319m from $274m in the first half of 2020, with revenue up 7% at $1.2bn. Operating profit was 10% higher at $326m.

The company declared an interim dividend of 18 cents, up from 16 cents the year before.

Hikma said it now expects full-year revenues for the generics segment to be between $810m and $830m, up from previous guidance of $770m to $810m. The core operating margin is expected to be between 22% and 24%, up from around 20%.

The improved outlook reflects a strong performance from recently launched products, it said.

Chief executive officer Siggi Olafsson said: "Once again, we have benefited from the resilience of our portfolio and our flexible manufacturing footprint. Our strong performance included solid year-over-year increases in revenue and operating profit, underscoring our ability to generate positive results in challenging market conditions.

"We are continuing to benefit from investments we have made to build our pipeline of new medicines and our progress in the first half underpins our improved outlook for the full year. Looking ahead, our clear strategy, strong pipeline and agility give us the confidence to drive continued growth and deliver increased value to all our stakeholders."

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