The FINANCIAL — Underlying Revenue grew +6.7% with solid performances across all regions (U.S. +16.7%, Japan +0.3%, Europe & Canada +4.2%, Emerging Markets +3.4%).
Takeda’s Growth Drivers (GI, Oncology, CNS and Emerging Markets) maintained strong momentum to deliver growth of +14.9%.
– GI (Gastroenterology) +24.8% fueled by market share growth of ENTYVIO and TAKECAB.
– Oncology +13.2% driven by the expansion of NINLARO and ADCETRIS, and the addition of revenue from ICLUSIG and ALUNBRIGTM.
– CNS +26.7% with TRINTELLIX growing +58.7% in the U.S.
– Emerging Markets +3.4% with strong double-digit growth in the key markets of Russia and Brazil offsetting a temporary decline in China.
Reported revenue grew +3.6%, with the positive contribution from Takeda’s Growth Drivers and favorable currency impact (+2.4pp) more than offsetting the negative impact of divestitures (-5.5pp), according to Takeda.
Double-digit EPS growth reflecting strong revenue growth and progress of Global Opex Initiative
Underlying Core Earnings grew +44.4%, reflecting strong revenue growth and margin step up of 5.0pp (+2.7pp gross margin; +2.3pp from OPEX margin). First half earnings growth included some timing benefits.
Reported operating profit was up +44.6%, driven mainly by strong Core Earnings growth. The first half result includes one-time gains of 136.8 billion yen, including the sale of shares held in Wako Pure Chemical Ltd., the sale of real estate, and the transfer of additional long-listed products to Teva Takeda Yakuhin Ltd.
Underlying Core EPS was up +29.9%, and reported EPS increased +39.2% to 221 yen per share.
Net leverage improved due to steady progress on cash flow
Year-to-date Operating Free Cash Flow increased +12.4% to 84.6 billion yen, and the disposal of non-core assets generated an additional 131 billion yen of cash.
Net Debt / EBITDA dropped to 2.0x from 2.7x in March 2017.
Christophe Weber, Chief Executive Officer of Takeda, commented:
“Our Growth Drivers continued to deliver robust double-digit revenue growth, which together with our cost management initiatives led to a significant margin expansion. Furthermore, the ARIAD acquisition is delivering ahead of expectations, and the R&D transformation is well advanced. Although we expect headwinds in the second half of the year, we are still confident to raise our outlook for the full year as we execute against our key mid-term priorities of growing the portfolio, rebuilding the pipeline, and boosting profitability.”
Takeda raises its full-year outlook despite second half headwinds
Increasing Management Guidance and Reported Forecast to reflect favorable year-to-date results. The Reported Forecast also benefits from lower impairment and restructuring expenses compared to the previous forecast.
The majority of one-time gains were booked in the first half, and the majority of one-time expenses will be booked in the second half. The outlook also assumes loss of exclusivity of Velcade.
Velcade estimates are based on the possible entry of 2 or 3 bortezomib-containing products in the U.S. from November 2017. Depending on various factors there may be an additional opportunity up to 30 billion yen, which will be partly reinvested in the business.
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