EBOS says it expects to increase its underlying earnings during the remainder of the current financial year, with further growth forecast into 2019/20 "as we commence servicing the Chemist Warehouse contract volumes".
The company released its first half results this morning (PD breaking news), which also confirmed the acquisition of the Quitnits headlice business - among other key achievements including the signing of the Chemist Warehouse deal and the acquisition of all minority shares in Terry White Group.
Total revenue for the six months to 31 December was $3.5 billion, down slightly due to the ongoing impact of PBS reforms and lower sales of hepatitis C medications.
The statutory net profit after tax was down about 3.7% to $67 million, including the impact of $8.8 million in costs relating to mergers & acquisitions, rationalising warehouse facilities and employee redundancy costs.
CEO John Cullity said EBOS was pleased with the recent government decision to maintain strict service standards and reporting obligations relating to the Community Service Obligation - and in particular the changes preventing distributors from undertaking new exclusive-direct arrangements participating in the CSO.
"However falling medicine prices, rising operational costs across the industry and a failure to fully resolve the issue of equal access for the distribution of PBS medicines have had an impact on our performance," Cullity said.
The EBOS Consumer Products division saw revenue jump 9.6% mainly driven by a strong performance of the Red Seal range and sales from the recently acquired Gran's Remedy brand.
EBOS also announced an interim dividend of NZ34.5c per share, up 4.5% on the prior corresponding period.
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