Alliance Pharma sees profit and revenue spike amid ongoing uncertainty
Alliance Pharma has hailed its strong second-half performance, which helped it record sales and additional profit expansion in its preliminary results despite the healthcare group having delayed its audited results three times this year.
The London-listed firm, which sells over-the-counter drugs in over 100 countries, posted revenue growth of eight per cent on a statutory basis in the year ended 31 December 2023, turning over £180.7m.
Gross profit rose three per cent, up from £101.7m in 2022 to £105m this year, with the company singling out particularly strong sales in its Kelo-Cote franchise.
Alliance Pharma confirmed that the dividend remained on pause while its board evaluated its new policy, which is expected to prioritise reinvestment above dishing out spoils to investors.
It was first forced to suspend its dividend in September 2023.
The results will be a welcome relief after a testing period for the medical company, which has had to delay the publication of its audited 2023 results three times this year.
The most recent delay, announced in May, coincided with the news that its long-serving chief executive, Peter Butterfield, would be stepping down. The company stressed the two were unrelated.
In 2022 KMPG resigned as Alliance’s auditor.
Butterfield was reprimanded by Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which had sought to disqualify him as a director after it had given Alliance a £7.9m fine for alleged anti-competitive behaviour.
Butterfield’s replacement, Nick Sedgwick, has held leadership roles at Nestle and Reckitt.
Until today’s results, the controversy looked to have weighed on Alliance Pharma’s financial performance. In another unaudited trading update in January, it cut its profit expectations for this year to 18 per cent lower than analyst estimates.
Andrew Franklin, Chief Financial Officer, said: “Whilst the audit delay has been unsatisfactory, it has allowed us to implement a more robust intangible valuation review process. Despite the non-cash impairments our portfolio continues to provide a solid platform from which to grow our Consumer Healthcare brands and generate strong cash flow.
“We remain confident in our medium to long-term performance as we focus our resources on those market segments in which we already have a strong presence and expertise in order to drive solid organic revenue growth above that of the broader Consumer Healthcare market.”
Alliance Pharma has not yet named a date for when shareholders can expect its audited statements to be published.