Africa’s biggest generic drug-maker, Aspen Pharmacare, said on Monday full-year headline earnings per share likely rose by 25% boosted by its South African operations.
Aspen, which is 19% owned by Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline, said earnings per share were expected to increased by between 30% and 35%, boosted by one-off gains.
Headline EPS is the main profit gauge in South Africa and strips out certain one-off items.
South African pharmaceutical companies have largely escaped the economic downturn, shielded partly by demand for antiretroviral drugs in the country that has one of the world’s heaviest HIV/Aids caseloads. — Reuters