Dechra upbeat

PHARMACEUTICAL group Dechra has said third quarter trading remained positive and revenue remains ahead of the same period last year.

In an interim management statement covering the period from January 1 to today, the group, which employs more than 200 people in Skipton, said the poor winter had not an impact on the business and that revenue to March 31 was 5.7% up on last year.

For the nine months ending March 31, group revenue increased by 6.3% on the corresponding period in 2009.

In the third quarter, European pharmaceuticals revenue grew by 6.3% compared to the same period last year. For the nine months to March 31 revenue was ahead of last year by 7%.
 
Revenue from US pharmaceuticals was ahead of last year by 11.7% in quarter three and by 46.4% for the nine months ended March 31.

Revenue from Vetoryl was $1.9m in the third quarter and $4.4m for the year to date.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange today, the group said there had been a number of advances in its product portfolio.

“Vetoryl has received notification of approval for Japan; Urilin, our branded UK generic for urinary incontinence in dogs, has received approval in the EU; Flexicam Injection, an extension to our canine pain relief range, has also received EU approval; and we have been notified by the FDA that the safety and manufacturing control sections for Equidone, our specialist equine product for the US market, are complete.

“Furthermore, we have secured the US marketing rights for Ovuplant, a specialist equine fertility drug which we currently market in the EU,” it said.
 
The group’s Services division increased revenues in the thrid quarter by 4.4%.  Revenue for the year to date was 4.6% ahead of the equivalent period last year.
 
Looking ahead, it said trading remained in line with the board’s expectations and it remained confident it would continue to make good strategic progress throughout the remainder of the financial year.