Decent start for Dechra despite supply problems in the US

STAFFORDSHIRE pharmaceutical group Dechra has had a good start to the year with revenue for the three month to March 31 14.6% up on the same period last year.

But supply problems from a third party manufacturer have had a negative impact on its US operations.

In an interim management statement to the London Stock Exchange, the firm
revealed that for the the nine months ended March 31, group revenue increased by 18.4% over the corresponding period in the previous year.

In the third quarter Dechra’s European Pharmaceuticals segment grew revenues by 69.8%

This increase predominantly relates to the acquisition of Dutch firm Eurovet Animal Health in May 2012.

Revenue from US Pharmaceuticals was below last year by -14.4% in the third quarter, although ahead in the nine months ended March 31 by 0.5%.

The quarterly performance was adversely affected by supply problems from a third party manufacturer. Customer back orders are now in excess of $1m.

Dechra said the strong performance reported in the first half of the financial year has been partly offset by a weaker than expected third quarter which was affected by poor weather in northern Europe and the aformentioned third party supply problems in the US.

But the firm’s board does not anticipate that the third quarter’s performance will materially impact its expectations for the full year.