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Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC on Thursday said it swung to an annual loss as it lamented high inflation and cost of sales, despite growth in all pharmaceutical product categories. The Northwich, Cheshire-based veterinary drug maker said revenue grew to £761.5 million from £681.8 million a year before, up 12% on a reported basis, and 5.5% higher in constant currency. The company cited growth in EU pharmaceuticals, while its performance in North America took a hit from US wholesaler de-stocking. ‘Territories such as the UK, France and Germany showed positive signs of increased demand, contributing to a record sales month for the EU Pharmaceuticals segment in June 2023,’ it said. Despite revenue growth, the firm swung to a pretax loss of £36.1 million from a profit of £77.6 million, as cost of sales increased 13% to £335.2 million from £297.0 million. ‘Rising inflation, unpredictable country specific dynamics within some of our key European markets, and ongoing integration of the two US acquisitions made in July and August 2022 all required navigating,’ Dechra explained. Its total dividend amounted to 12.50 pence, down from 44.89p in the previous year, as Dechra decided to forgo the payment of a final dividend given its impending takeover. Dechra said it expects its takeover by EQT, which is a Swedish private equity firm, and Luxinva SA, which is controlled by the sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates, to complete in late 2023 or early 2024. The offer values Dechra shares at 3,875 pence each, or about £4.5 billion. Dechra shares were 0.3% lower at 3,784.00 pence each on Thursday morning in London. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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