(Alliance News) - Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC on Thursday said it was confident of delivering on market expectations for its financial year 2023, and expects the phasing to be weighted to the second half.

The veterinary products firm said the consensus estimates for underlying earnings before interest and tax is GBP191 million, roughly unchanged from an underlying Ebitda of GBP191 million the year before.

It said trading in its first quarter ending September 30 was below the prior year, as expected. This is due to a challenging comparator with higher demand levels during Covid-19 and the phasing of price increases.

Shares were down 3.5% at 2,518.00 pence on Thursday morning in London.

Last month, Dechra reported revenue of GBP681.8 million in the financial year that ended June 30, up 12% from GBP608.0 million the year before. Consolidated pretax profit increased 4.9% to GBP77.6 million, compared to GBP74.0 million in 2021.

Dechra said it will release half-year results for the six months to December 30 on February 27 next year, and provide a trading update on January 12.

By Xindi Wei; xindiwei@alliancenews.com

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