BUX hit by Richter profit warning over Esmya

Telco

Image by LaMography/Móni Lázár

Hungarian drugmaker Gedeon Richter said late on Monday it would book a HUF 42 billion impairment loss related to its uterine fibroid drug Esmya, which has come under scrutiny by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for potentially related liver damage. The Richter share price dropped on Tuesday on the news.

Richter said its 2017 consolidated financial statements would be prepared taking into account the expected negative impact on business caused by temporary measures imposed on Esmya.

As reported earlier in February, the EMAʼs Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) recommended regular live monitoring of women taking Esmya, as well as temporarily restricting prescriptions of the drug until a review is completed, expected by the end of May.

Richter confirmed early in December that the EMA had started a review of Esmya after reports of serious liver damage in four patients treated with the drug.

After the companyʼs fourth-quarter earnings report was released on February 12, Richter CEO Gábor Orbán said the company would deviate from its usual practice and not offer investors guidance for total, full-year revenue because of the scrutiny over Esmya.

Richter said Monday that the impairment related to the measures is "expected to amount to HUF 42 bln subject to the process of auditing." Operating profit and net profit for 2017 will "significantly fall behind the amounts" in the preliminary earnings report released on Feb. 12, it added.

Richter had said it had net income of HUF 51.2 bln for the year in the Feb. 12 report, already down 23%.

The Budapest Stock Exchangeʼs main BUX index was down 0.69% at noon on Tuesday, dragged lower by the Richter profit warning, state news wire MTI reported. The Richter share price was down 4.11% at HUF 5,830 at noon.

At close of trading Tuesday, Richter was down 4.61% at HUF 5,800.

Hungary Account Deficit at EUR 561 mln in Q4 Debt

Hungary Account Deficit at EUR 561 mln in Q4

Moldovan Pensions to be Increased as of April 1 World

Moldovan Pensions to be Increased as of April 1

Schoenherr Names Miklós Klenanc as Head of Local M&A Practic... Appointments

Schoenherr Names Miklós Klenanc as Head of Local M&A Practic...

Hungarian Wine Marketing Agency to Host Summit Drinks

Hungarian Wine Marketing Agency to Host Summit

SUPPORT THE BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL

Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For 27 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.
Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.