London-listed Hutchison China MediTech Ltd (Chi-Med), a pharmaceutical and healthcare unit of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd, said its pretax loss for the first six months ended June widened to US$6.4 million, the company said on Tuesday.
However, the company is still optimistic about its prospect due to its strong sales growth for the first half, which grew 37% to US$46 million. The hike in sales can be mainly ascribed to strong growth in its China healthcare unit, which is well ahead of the 20% average annual growth of China's pharmaceutical industry, although losses in its drug research unit rose 112% to US$8.0 million, the company said.
Its group overheads had been reduced by 27% during the first half due to the management's efforts in cost control.
Given the substantial market volume for botanical ingredients used in traditional Chinese medicine, the company predicted its full-year results would reflect better sales than that of the previous year.
Chi-Med is also seeking acquisition opportunities to provide over-the-counter (OTC) drugs in order to expand its market share in China, according to its CEO Christian Hogg.
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