Healthcare services company United Drug posted a slightly better-than-expected 14 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to €55.2m for the year ending September and said it was set for more growth and acquisitions in the year ahead.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) in the year to the end of September rose to 20.22 cents from 17.77 cents in 2005.
Analysts had expected EPS of 19.99 cents after adjustments to exclude exceptional items and goodwill amortisation, according to the average of four forecasts on Reuters Estimates.
Group revenue at United Drug rose 10 per cent to €1.46 billion versus €1.43 billion expected by analysts. Including the company's share in joint ventures, revenue rose 10 per cent to €1.92 billion.
The Dublin-based wholesaler, which distributes drugs and medical equipment to pharmacies and hospitals in Ireland and the UK and also supplies contract sales staff to pharmaceuticals makers, had said last month it expected earnings to meet expectations due to robust trading conditions and growth across its divisions.
"We're very pleased," Chief Executive Liam FitzGerald said.
"It's our 21st consecutive year of delivering double-digit growth to the market."
Chief financial officer Barry McGrane said he expected adjusted earnings per share to again grow by at least 10 per cent in the current business year.
"We would be focussed on delivering more double-digit growth," he said, adding that analyst expectations for a rise to 22 cents per share from this year's 20 cents were "reasonable" and "achievable" despite price cuts on some drugs.
Both men stressed the company, which over the last year has bought a number of British companies distributing products such as vaccines and endoscopy equipment, still had plenty of resources for making further acquisitions in the year ahead.
"The key thing is we have an exceptionally strong balance sheet and a desire to do more, and slightly bigger, deals," Mr FitzGerald said in a telephone interview, adding that the focus would remain on the distribution market in the UK.
Mr McGrane said "slightly bigger" acquisitions meant they could be more than the 20-million-euro deals the company has done recently but would not run into hundreds of millions. "Our model tends to be small to medium-sized bolt-ons," he said.