Pharma giant Shire reports 36 per cent jump in sales during first half of 2016
Pharmaceutical group Shire has reported a jump in sales in the six months to 30 June and predicts strong full-year result.
The figures
Product sales were up 46 per cent to $3.95bn (£3.02bn) from $2.9bn in the first half of 2015.
Royalties and other revenues went up 29 per cent to $189m, from $147m, meaning total revenue was up 36 per cent to $4.14bn.
The company's research & development expenditure went down to $511.9m in the six month period, from $969.6m the year before.
Why it's interesting
Shire has been on something of a shopping spree lately – it purchased Dyax towards the end of 2015, and its $32bn merger with US rival Baxalta completed earlier this year. The group said it had raised its operating synergy expectation by 40 per cent to at least $700m in year three post the close of the Baxalta deal, as "integration activities continue to progress very well".
What Shire said
"The first half of 2016 was marked by a number of important milestones in Shire’s history," said chief executive Flemming Ornskov.
"Chief among them was completion of the combination with Baxalta to create the leading global biotechnology group focused on serving people with rare diseases and highly specialised conditions.
"While closing this transformative deal and making significant progress on integration, we also delivered double-digit revenue growth, driven by strong contributions from both the legacy Shire and Baxalta businesses."
In short
Shire bulked up in the first half and that's reflected in its sales.