Financial summary for the first quarter
January – March 2015 (2014)
- Net turnover totalled SEK 215.9 million (208.2 m), of which SEK 128.6 million (161.5 m) comprised royalties for simeprevir.
- Revenues from Medivir’s own pharmaceutical sales totalled SEK 86.8 million (46.4 m), of which SEK 34.2 million (0.0) derived from sales of OLYSIO® and SEK 52.6 million (46.4 m) from sales of other pharmaceuticals.
- The profit after tax was SEK 66.7 million (283.8 m).
- Basic and diluted earnings per share totalled SEK 2.29 (9.08) and SEK 2.27 (9.01), respectively.
- The cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 205.3 million (-57.8 m).
| Summary of the Group’s figures, continuing operations (SEK m) | Q1 | Full year | |
| 2015 | 2014 | 2014 | |
| Net turnover | 215.9 | 208.2 | 1 767.0 |
| Gross profit | 182.8 | 182.1 | 1 593.0 |
| Operating profit before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) | 84.6 | 96.7 | 1 221.9 |
| Operating profit (EBIT) | 76.2 | 88.6 | 1 188.7 |
| Profit/loss before tax | 82.9 | 90.3 | 1 192.7 |
| Profit/loss after tax | 66.7 | 283.8 | 1 132.7 |
| Operating margin, % | 35.3 | 42.6 | 67.3 |
| Basic earnings per share, SEK | 2.29 | 9.08 | 36.24 |
| Diluted earnings per share, SEK | 2.27 | 9.01 | 35.90 |
| Net worth per share, SEK | 53.7 | 36.4 | 63.4 |
| Return on equity | 4.8 | 9.1 | 84.1 |
| Cash flow from operating activities | 205.3 | -57.8 | 1 014.4 |
| Liquid assets and short-term investments at the period end | 998.4 | 341.8 | 1 395.6 |
| R&D spending/total opex, % | 62.2 | 55.7 | 60.8 |
Conference call for investors, analysts and the media
The Interim Report for the first quarter of 2015 will be presented by Medivir’s President & CEO,
Niklas Prager and members of Medivir’s management group.
Time: Tuesday, 5 May 2015, at 12.30 (CET).
Phone numbers for participants from:
Sweden +46 (0)8 566 426 61
Europe +44 20 342 814 00
USA +1 855 753 2236
The conference call will also be streamed via a link on the website: www.medivir.com
The presentation will be available on Medivir’s website after completion of the conference.
CEO’s comments
Medivir’s operations are built on creation of long-term value through R&D operations grounded in our established, documented and successful technology platform. And I am, therefore, pleased to note that all of our ongoing projects continued to develop completely according to plan during the quarter.
We also received clear proof of the strength of our technology platform after the reporting period had ended, when we were able to announce that we are entering into a collaboration with Cancer Research Technology (CRT) to develop a new class of drugs for the treatment of cancer. The collaboration aims, amongst other things, to develop molecules targeting ADAM8, a protein which has been linked to tumour survival, cell invasion and metastasis.
CRT is the commercial development arm of Cancer Research UK and has a very good reputation in the field of international cancer research. The fact that CRT has chosen to collaborate with Medivir on this exciting project not only constitutes further recognition of our strong technology platform, it also reinforces the trust in our technology and that it can be successfully applied in the field of cancer research.
The agreement with CRT forms part of our efforts to strengthen our research portfolio in the oncology area, and the first quarter also saw us strengthen the oncology part of our organisation. This should not be taken to mean that we are building a bigger organisation: rather that we are shifting some of our expertise towards the cancer area.
Other projects I would like to highlight include MIV-802 (for the treatment of hepatitis C) which entered the non-clinical development phase during the quarter – with new positive results presented on April 23rdat The International Liver Congress - and for which we are currently engaged in discussions with potential partners.
We are also continuing to generate income through milestone payments and royalties. First quarter royalties from sales of the hepatitis C drug, OLYSIO® (simeprevir), totalled SEK 129 million. Global net sales of OLYSIO® were down on the corresponding quarter last year, due to launches of new, competing products, but new and interesting studies of the uses of OLYSIO® are now in progress and Q1 saw the presentation of three new clinical trials of simeprevir in a range of treatment combinations, treatment periods, and patient groups and also positive data from the OPTIMIST trials were presented by our partner Janssen at The International Liver Congress in April. We have a long-standing and positive partnership with our global partner, Janssen, when it comes to simeprevir, and these trials demonstrate Janssen’s substantial commitment to the hepatitis C area.
Our Nordic pharmaceutical sales organisation with its two arms, Innovative Specialty Care and Nordic Brands, posted combined sales of SEK 86.8 million during the quarter, corresponding to an increase of 87 per cent on the corresponding quarter in 2014. The increased competition meant, when it came to sales of OLYSIO® in the Nordic region, that the average income per patient fell.
The first quarter also brought to an end our voluntary share redemption programme, and saw a relatively steep increase in foreign ownership, from 28 to 33 per cent. I regard this as further proof of the fact that we have an internationally recognised technology platform. We also put a strong new management group in place during the quarter and, collectively, we are deeply committed to building a broad pipeline in order to generate the maximum possible value from this strong platform. I am convinced that these values will become even more apparent as our projects and commercial development activities progress in 2015.
Niklas Prager
President and CEO
Upcoming reporting dates:
Interim Report Q2 (January–June)
20 August 2015
Interim Report Q3 (January–September)
20 November 2015
Full year report 2015 will be published in February 2016
For further information, please contact:
Niklas Prager, President & CEO, phone: +46 (0) 8 407 64 30
Ola Burmark, CFO, mobile: +46 (0)725-480 580.
Medivir is required under the Securities Markets Act to make the information in this press release public.
The information was submitted for publication at 10.00 CET on 5 May 2015.
About Medivir
Medivir is a research based pharmaceutical company with a research focus on infectious diseases and oncology. We have a leading competence within protease inhibitor design and nucleotide/nucleoside science and we are dedicated to develop innovative pharmaceuticals that meet great unmet medical need. Our commercial organization provides a growing portfolio of specialty care pharmaceuticals on the Nordic market. Medivir is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm Mid Cap List.