Takeda boosts H1 group net profit 52 pct
(UPDATE: Recasts with company and analyst's comments)
By Yuka Obayashi
TOKYO, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Japan's top pharmaceuticals maker Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd said on Monday its
consolidated net profit in the past six months jumped 51.8 percent, helped by healthy drug sales at home and abroad.
Group net profit for the April-September period grew to 90.1 billion yen ($841 million), compared with 59.4 billion yen in the same period a year earlier, while sales rose 3.4 percent to 474.1 billion yen.
The jump in net profit partially reflected a one-off charge last year, Takada said.
The upbeat results were in line with its forecasts, which the company itself boosted last week along with its annual estimates from those made in May. But analysts said the full year to next March could be even stronger than the company's revised forecast.
``The healthy results showed Takeda's solid footing in overseas' and domestic drug markets with a series of successful new drugs,'' said Goldman Sachs senior analyst Kenji Masuzoe.
``We believe the firm made a conservative projection in the second half. Full-year net profit could be higher.''
Last week, Takeda lifted its half-year group net profit estimate to 90 billion yen from 68.5 billion yen and boosted its full-year net profit estimate by 22 percent from a May forecast, exceeding the consensus estimate by analysts.
For the full year to next March, Takeda expects a 168 billion yen net profit -- a seventh straight record best -- up 40.4 percent from the previous year on sales of 955 billion yen, up 3.5 percent from last year.
Shares in Takeda showed little reaction to the news, which came during afternoon trade, closing down 0.27 percent at 7,280yen on a day when the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average posted a 3.6 percent advance.
Some analysts, including Goldman's Masuzoe, said Takeda's shares were an attractive long-term investment.
UPBEAT EARNINGS
In the first half, strong sales of the diabetes drug Actos in the United States and brisk domestic demand for mainstay products such as Blopress, a drug for high blood pressure, and prostate cancer agent Leuplin were credited for the profit rise.
Takeda also lifted its interim dividend to 25 yen per share, against 15.5 yen the previous year, and raised its forecast for the annual dividend to 46.25 yen from 37 yen.
``Along with solid domestic demand for the new drugs, the vigorous sales overseas will help our profit growth in the second half-year,'' a company official told a news conference.
The firm expects overseas drug sales in the second half-year to exceed first-half results, boosting overseas sales to 29.3 percent of total sales this year, up from 23.3 percent last year.
The company said it may face charges relating to price-fixing accusations in Canada and Europe, and warned that its U.S. unit TAP Holdings, a joint venture with Abbott Laboratories Inc (NYSE:ABT - news), has been under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for its product sales.
Details of the investigation were not disclosed.
STRONG PICK
Analysts view it as a potentially strong stock pick after a 45 percent rise in its shares so far this year, against a 41 percent gain in the industry sub-index in Tokyo.
``It is the best stock for long-term investment among Japanese drug makers as it has the potential for stable growth and the lowest downside risk amid volatile stock market conditions,'' said Masuzoe, who has a short-term target price of 8,850 for Takada.
``Shares in some drug makers which have attractive new drugs and ways to expand their sales in overseas markets -- such as Takeda -- can go even higher, despite a rise this year,'' said Merrill Lynch senior analyst Masatake Miyoshi.
Miyoshi estimates Takeda's EPS growth for the next five years at more than 20 percent, against growth of only two percent for the domestic pharmaceutical market, the world's second largest.
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