Trading Statement
Summary by AI BETAClose X
Hikma reiterates full year 2026 guidance following encouraging start to the year
London, 23 April 2026 - Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (Hikma, Group), the multinational pharmaceutical group, today provides an update on current trading ahead of its Annual General Meeting.
Said Darwazah, Hikma's CEO, said:
"Our three businesses are performing well, supported by our differentiated portfolio, recent product launches and our strong and growing commercial capabilities. We continue to focus on strengthening our pipeline and today announced the signing of a device partnership for our inhalation platform, which will be a key growth driver for our Rx business. We are pleased with the performance of the Group and are on track to deliver revenue and profit growth, in line with our full year guidance and our overarching focus on long-term sustainable profit growth."
Injectables
Our global Injectables business has started the year well and we are seeing good demand across our geographies, supported by our broad portfolio and strong customer relationships.
In the US, demand is good and we are focused on driving sustainable growth by strengthening our supply chain, commercial execution, manufacturing network and R&D capabilities. Our ready-to-use vancomycin bag, Tyzavan®, is seeing accelerating demand as we gradually convert customers to this life-saving medicine, and we continue to invest in our capacity expansion projects, including work on our Bedford, Ohio facility, which is progressing well.
Europe has had a strong start to the year, particularly in Germany and France where we are seeing good demand for our established portfolio. MENA Injectables is also performing well, with positive progress across our markets.
We continue to expect 2026 Injectables revenue to grow in the low single digits, with core operating margin in the range of 27% to 28%.
Branded
Our Branded business continues to perform very well, with good demand across our portfolio and markets. We are benefiting from our broad commercial reach and deep local market presence across MENA, as well as from our extensive pipeline of in-licensed and internally developed products. We continue to build on our leading positions in key therapeutic areas, including oncology, where we benefit from a broad portfolio and dedicated local manufacturing.
We remain the largest pharmaceutical company by sales in the region and are committed to ensuring continuity of supply for our patients and customers.
We continue to expect 2026 Branded revenue to grow in the range of 6% to 8%, with core operating margin of around 25%.
Hikma Rx
Hikma Rx is performing in line with our expectations and demand across our differentiated portfolio is good. We have continued to add to this differentiation, including the launches in February and March of authorised generics for immediate release and extended release tapentadol in the US.
We are making progress in the expansion of our Columbus site to support our growing contract manufacturing business, which will be an increasingly important contributor to this business over the medium term.
R&D is critical to our growth plans and a key element of our strategy is to invest in complex and differentiated platforms.
To this end, we have signed an exclusive co-development and license agreement with an established partner for the use of their device technology in the US, UK, Canada, EU and MENA region. This agreement will accelerate the development of our generic Ellipta® programme.
The ongoing investment into the generic Ellipta® platform reflects our focus on inhalation technologies, an area where Hikma has demonstrated expertise, including through generic Advair Diskus®, which remains an important contributor to Hikma Rx revenue.
We continue to expect Hikma Rx revenue to be broadly flat in 2026, with core operating margin close to 20%.
Others
To enhance our focus on our core businesses, we have taken the strategic decision to wind down our 503B compounding business.
Global geopolitical environment
We are monitoring the evolving geopolitical situation in the Middle East. Demand in the region remains robust and the Group continues to maintain sufficient inventory levels to mitigate potential supply chain disruptions. To date we have experienced some inflationary pressure, particularly linked to shipping, energy and insurance costs. We are confident we can absorb these increased costs through a combination of strong business performance and disciplined cost focus.
Group full year outlook unchanged
We continue to expect Group revenue to grow in the range of 2% to 4% and for Group operating profit to be in the range of $720 million to $770 million in 2026.
Final dividend and share buyback
Subject to approval at today's Annual General Meeting, we will be paying a final dividend of 48 cents per share. The final dividend brings the total dividend for the full year 2025 to 84 cents per share, an increase of 5% on 2024.
The Group is in the process of executing a share buyback programme of up to $250 million. Since the launch of the buyback programme on 26 February 2026 to 17 April 2026, Hikma has purchased 4,374,095 million ordinary shares at a cost of £54.8 million ($71.5 million).
We will announce our interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2026 on Thursday 6 August 2026.
Further information
Hikma will hold a live Q&A webinar at 9:30am BST. A recording and transcript will be made available on the Company's website.
To join the webinar, please register using the following link: https://sparklive.lseg.com/HikmaPharmaceuticals/events/18336cb5-4e47-4d98-997a-87342972ac5a
Ellipta® is a registered trademark of the GSK group of companies
-- ENDS --
Enquiries:
Hikma (Investors)
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Susan Ringdal EVP, Strategic Planning and Global Affairs |
+44 (0)20 7399 2760/ +44 (0)7776 477050 |
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Guy Featherstone Director, Investor Relations |
+44 (0)20 3892 4389/ +44 (0)7795 896738 |
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FTI Consulting (Media) Ciara Martin |
+44 (0)7779 775979 |
About Hikma
Hikma helps put better health within reach every day for millions of people around the world. For more than 45 years, we've been creating high-quality medicines and making them accessible to the people who need them. Headquartered in the UK, we are a global company with a local presence across North America, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Europe, and we use our unique insight and expertise to transform cutting-edge science into innovative solutions that transform people's lives. We're committed to our customers, and the people they care for, and by thinking creatively and acting practically, we provide them with a broad range of branded and non-branded generic medicines. Together, our 9,400 colleagues are helping to shape a healthier world that enriches all our communities. We are a leading licensing partner, and through our venture capital arm, are helping bring innovative health technologies to people around the world. For more information, please visit: www.hikma.com
Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (LSE: HIK) (NASDAQ Dubai: HIK) (OTC: HKMPY) (LEI:549300BNS685UXH4JI75) (rated BBB/stable S&P, BBB/stable Fitch)
Forward-looking statements
Hikma cautions shareholders that any forward-looking statements or projections made by Hikma, including those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those risk factors described in the "Principal risks and uncertainties" section in Hikma's latest Annual Report. Where included, such statements have been made by or on behalf of Hikma in good faith based upon the knowledge and information available to the Directors on the date of this announcement. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that any particular expectation will be met and Hikma's shareholders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Other than in accordance with its legal or regulatory obligations (including under the UK Market Abuse Regulation and the UK Listing Rules and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority), Hikma does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement to reflect any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based or to correct any inaccuracies which may become apparent in any such forward-looking statements.
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