Johannesburg -
Litha Healthcare Group [JSE:LHG] on Thursday announced diluted headline earnings per share of 17.4 cents for the year ended December 2010, from 7.1 cents previously.
It noted diluted earnings per share of 15.9 cents, from 7.1 cents in 2009.
Revenue advanced to R1.29bn, from R178m earlier, while operating profit increased to R122.26m, from R21.45m in 2009.
The group said that demand from the public sector for the group's products was strong, with the private sector sales being somewhat slower. The mix between public and private sector contributions to group gross profit following the creation of the enlarged group was public sector at 45% and the private sector 55%.
The group listed on the main board of the JSE Limited in May 2010, following the acquisition by
Myriad Medical Holdings [JSE:MYD] of a 51% stake in Litha Healthcare Holdings (LHH).
The transaction significantly increased its size and diversified its healthcare offering into three major divisions - Biotechnology (vaccines), Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices.
Post year end, the group purchased the remaining 49% of the issued share capital of LHH.
Looking ahead, the group said that with the acquisition of the balance of the shares in LHH, it expected to start extracting cost benefits from the integration and rationalisation of logistics and shared services. "The new, enlarged and diversified group gives it the scale to compete more effectively.
"In the Biotech Division, the focus for the next year will be on equipping the manufacturing facility, whilst attracting the appropriate additional skills to effectively operate the facility in 2013 and beyond," the group said.
In terms of Litha Pharma, the group said it would continue to look for transactions that would give the division more scale to effectively compete with other listed pharmaceutical companies, as well as develop a balanced product pipeline of its own.
"The focus for Litha Medical will be on creating a new Cardiac business unit to further grow the division's presence in this fast-growing and innovative therapeutic area. Management will focus on export sales and business within the public sector to further diversify the customer base and to ensure a healthy mix of public and private customers," it said.
Litha said its business units would also continue to focus on streamlining operational efficiencies and synergies, as well as adding more quality medical agencies to their portfolio.
"In the coming year, the group will focus on continuing to bed down the acquisitions that took place in 2010 and on completing divisional integration with shared services and logistics. All divisions are profitable and well placed for continued growth," it concluded.