COPENHAGEN/OSLO -Shares in Lundbeck rose 9% on Tuesday after the Danish drug maker posted fourth-quarter sales above forecasts and projected a more rapid increase in its profit margin in the coming years than analysts had expected.
Lundbeck expects revenue to grow this year to between 19.4 billion and 20 billion Danish crowns ($2.79 billion-$2.88 billion) from 18.2 billion crowns last year, a slower pace than the 12% increase seen last year.
The Copenhagen-based company, which specialises in drugs to treat brain diseases, said it expects “solid growth” of its strategic brands and faces limited impact from patent expirations over the next three to four years.
It expects to reach an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin of 30%-32% during that period, sooner that forecast by analysts.
Lundbeck shares, which are trading near their lowest level since 2015, were up 8.4% by 1222 GMT on Tuesday.
It posted fourth-quarter sales up 15% to 4.68 million crowns, above the 4.56 million forecast by analysts in a poll done by the company.
Its EBITDA more than doubled to 910 million crowns, though fell short of the 940 million forecast by analysts.
For this year, Lundbeck expects EBITDA to rise to between 4.8 billion and 5.2 billion crowns from 4.66 billion in 2022 after growing by 25% in 2022.
($1 = 6.9506 Danish crowns)
