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Final Results for the year ended 31 December

Strong performance from Consumer Healthcare brands

Very strong cash generation

2021 has started well, with the recent Amberen™ acquisition set to enhance growth

Alliance Pharma plc (AIM: APH), the international healthcare group, is pleased to announce its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2020. The Group continued to deliver a robust operational and financial performance in 2020, despite the challenges posed by COVID-19.

Overview

  • Strong performance from Consumer Healthcare brands, which now account for over two thirds of Group see-through revenues*
    • Kelo-cote™ revenues up 12%
    • Nizoral™ see-through revenues* up 4%
    • See-through revenues* overall up 1% to £93.0m (2019: £92.4m)
    • Statutory revenues up 2% to £85.3m (2019: £83.7m)
  • Prescription Medicine revenues down 14% to £44.5m (2019: £51.9m), reflecting delays in routine treatments as a result of COVID-19
  • Group see-through revenue* in total down 5% (down 5% CCY*) to £137.5m (2019: £144.3m)
  • Group statutory revenues down 4%, to £129.8m (2019: £135.6m)
  • Substantial US acquisition completed in December 2020, bringing a highly successful and fast-growing brand, Amberen™, into the Group, and creating scale in the Group’s US operations
  • Underlying profit before tax up 2% to £33.5m (2019: £32.9m)
  • Reported profit before tax down 58% to £13.0m (2019: £31.1m), due to non-cash impairment and amortisation charges, and acquisition costs relating to the Biogix Inc acquisition
  • Group leverage post acquisition of Biogix Inc at 2.43 times, up from 1.48 times at December 2019; leverage expected to decrease to below 2.0 times during 2021
  • Free cash flow very strong at £34.1m, helped by favourable movements in net working capital
  • Cash generated from operations up 19% to £46.4m (2019: £39.0m)
  • Proposed final dividend payment of 1.074p per share, giving a total dividend of 1.610p (2019: 0.536p)

Financial summary

Year ended 31 December

2020

£m

2019

£m

Growth

Revenue (see-through basis)*

137.5

144.3

-5%

Revenue (statutory basis)

129.8

135.6

-4%

Gross profit

82.8

86.1

-4%

Underlying profit before taxation

33.5

32.9

2%

Reported profit before taxation

13.0

31.1

-58%

Underlying basic earnings per share

5.21p

5.09p

2%

Reported basic earnings per share

1.54p

4.80p

-68%

Free cash flow*

34.1

29.1

17%

Cash generated from operations

46.4

39.0

19%

Leverage

2.43x

1.48x

Net debt*

109.4

59.2

Proposed total dividend per share

1.610p

0.536p

200%


* The performance of the Group is assessed using Alternative Performance Measures (“APMs”), which are measures that are not defined under IFRS, but are used by management to monitor ongoing business performance against both shorter term budgets and forecasts and against the Groups longer term strategic plans. APMs are defined in note 20.

Specifically, see-through revenue includes sales from Nizoral™ as if they had been invoiced by Alliance. Under the terms of the transitional services agreement with Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Alliance receives the benefit of the net profit on sales of Nizoral from the date of acquisition up until the product licences in each of the Asia-Pacific territories transfer from J&J to Alliance. For statutory accounting purposes the product margin on Nizoral sales is included within Revenue, in line with IFRS 15.

Commenting on the results, Peter Butterfield, Alliance Pharma’s Chief Executive Officer, said:

“The Group delivered a robust operational and financial performance in 2020, despite the challenges of the pandemic. Whilst top line revenue growth was constrained, our Consumer Healthcare business has performed well and we have seen some strong performances from a number of our brands, in particular Kelo-cote.

“Through maintaining good control of our operating costs, we have continued to deliver a resilient underlying operating performance and our free cash flow has also remained very strong, enabling us to pay down more of our debt than expected ahead of completing the Biogix acquisition in December 2020.

“This strategically significant acquisition bears testament to our ability to continue to deliver on our longer-term growth strategy, notwithstanding the global pandemic. In addition to bringing another sizeable and fast-growing brand into the Group, it significantly enhances the scale of our business operations in the US, the world’s largest consumer healthcare market, and in consumer healthcare more generally.

“2021 has started well and we remain confident in our ability to continue to deliver a strong operational and financial performance, in line with market expectations. We look forward to regaining the strong momentum and revenue growth that the Group has enjoyed in recent years, whilst also benefiting from the additional scale and future growth opportunities that Amberen brings.

“Whilst our near-term focus will be on integrating Biogix into our existing US business, we will continue to look for opportunities to selectively add to our portfolio in line with our strategy of acquiring consumer healthcare brands in international markets in which we already have a presence.”

Conference call & webcast

A conference call for analysts will be held at 10.30am this morning, 23 March 2021. Analysts who require dial-in details, please contact Buchanan at alliancepharma@buchanan.uk.com.

A recorded webcast of the analyst conference call, including the investor presentation slides, will be made available this afternoon at this link:

https://webcasting.buchanan.uk.com/broadcast/60180f8da6bfbf43d06ac2ea

The recorded webcast will also be made available at the investor section of Alliance’s website, https://www.alliancepharmaceuticals.com/investors/

For more information, please contact Buchanan on 020 7466 5000 or email alliancepharma@buchanan.uk.com.

For further information:

Alliance Pharma plc
Peter Butterfield, Chief Executive Officer
Andrew Franklin, Chief Financial Officer
+ 44 (0)1249 466966

Buchanan
Mark Court / Sophie Wills / Hannah Ratcliff
+ 44 (0)20 7466 5000

Numis Securities Limited
Nominated Adviser: Freddie Barnfield / Oliver Steele
Corporate Broking: James Black
+ 44 (0)20 7260 1000

Investec Bank plc
Corporate Finance: Daniel Adams
Corporate Broking: Patrick Robb
+ 44 (0) 20 7597 5970

About Alliance

Alliance Pharma plc (AIM: APH) is an international healthcare group, headquartered in the UK with subsidiaries in Europe, the Far East and the US and wide international reach through an extensive network of distributors, generating sales in more than 100 countries.

We hold the marketing rights to around 80 Consumer Healthcare brands and Prescription Medicines, which are managed on a portfolio basis according to their growth potential. Promotional investment is focused primarily on our Consumer healthcare brands, many of which have significant international or multi-territory reach. Our Prescription Medicines are generally sold in a more limited number of local markets, and most require little or no promotional investment.

Our strategy allows us to deliver good organic growth and to enhance our growth rate through carefully selected acquisitions.

For more information on Alliance, please visit our website: www.alliancepharmaceuticals.com