Higher sales of scar treatment gel Kelo-Cote helped international healthcare group Alliance Pharma achieve stronger revenues in the first half of this year.
The Chippenham-headquartered firm, which owns a portfolio of products ranging from eye care treatments to anti-dandruff shampoo, said sales during the six months to the end of June rose by 2.8% to of £84.8m against the same period last year – or 5% at a constant exchange rate (CER).
In a trading update to shareholders, the London Stock Exchange-listed group said it expected revenues to continue to build in the second half, driving gross margin improvement which would be used to support further investment in marketing and innovation.
Group profitability for the full year would be in line with 2023, when it hit £31.5m, it added.
Alliance, which employs around 285 people across Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region, has transformed itself over the past five years from a business focused on prescription medicines to a fast-growth consumer healthcare company.
However, its shares lost around a third of their value late last year and earlier this year, taking them to a 12-year low, on the back of leadership changes and delays in publishing its 2023 full-year financial results.
While revenues in Alliance’s consumer healthcare product group rose 5% to £61.4m at CER, Kelo-Cote’s increased 18.4% to £29.2m.
Another bright spot was eye care product MacuShield, whose revenues climbed by16% to £4.8m.
These helped offset poorer performances by anti-dandruff medical shampoo brand Nizoral, which was impacted by destocking following a build in inventory last year ahead of a move to a new manufacturer.
As a result, its revenues were down 20.9% to £8.3m – although they are expected to recover to show strong growth later this year, boosted by new product launches.
Revenues for Amberen, a relief for menopause symptoms, declined by 8.9% to £5.2m due to softer trading on Amazon and as the category continued to shift away from bricks-and-mortar sales.
Sales grew by 3.4% to £23.3m in Alliance’s prescription medicine group, reflecting strong growth for its dry skin treatment Hydromol – up 9.6% to £5.1m – and a return to stock of some products.
Alliance chief executive officer Nick Sedgwick, pictured, who joined in May from UK hygiene, health and nutrition brands group Reckitt, said he was excited about the firm’s potential.
“My initial focus has been to streamline the company's management structure, to accelerate decision making and to bring the consumer closer to the heart of the business, and I see further opportunity to deliver efficiency gains and capability improvements,” he added.
"I am pleased by the [first-half] performance we delivered as we continue to see the benefits of our investment in both marketing and innovation.
“Our free cashflow is expected to build strongly throughout 2024, which we anticipate will enable us to reduce further our net debt and leverage by the end of the year.
"The board's expectation for full-year financial performance is unchanged and I look forward to presenting my refined strategy in Q4 this year.”
Alliance’s interim results for the six months to the end of June are expected to be published in September.
