Feb 26 (Reuters) – Britain’s Hikma Pharmaceuticals forecast slower annual revenue growth and profit that missed market expectations on Thursday as margins at its injectables business continue to be squeezed, sending its shares down 17% to a more than three-year low.
Hikma also withdrew its medium-term targets and said CEO Said Darwazah would step down as executive chair to focus on a strategic turnaround of the generic drugmaker.
The update follows a bruising stretch accentuated by an industry-wide squeeze on generic medicine margins that shows little sign of easing, and as the British company has grappled with manufacturing delays at its new U.S. factory in Bedford, Ohio.
Hikma said it expects full commercial production at Bedford to start in 2028.
It forecast core operating profit of between $720 million and $770 million for 2026, below a company-compiled consensus estimate of $784 million. Revenue growth this year is expected to be between 2% and 4%, down from 7% in 2025.
Hikma’s shares, which lost more than a fifth of their value last year, hit their lowest level since November 2022 in early morning trade. They were last down 17.2% at 1,375 pence by 0850 GMT.
“While our injectables business has experienced some challenges, we are taking clear steps to address these and we are confident in the longer-term prospects for this business,” Darwazah said in a statement.
Hikma’s core profit from the business fell 6% in the year ended December 31, 2025. Margins contracted to 31% for 2025 from 35.3% in 2024, and are expected to shrink further to between 27% and 28% this year.
Earlier this month, Brookfield Private Capital ruled out making an offer for Hikma.
(Reporting by Sri Hari N S in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Comments