Alliance Pharma : Final Results for the year ended 31 December 2023

Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 December 2023

Alliance Pharma plc (AIM: APH), the international healthcare group, presents its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2023 (the "Year" or the "Period"). As previously communicated in our full year trading update on 29 January 2024, a strong second half performance drove record sales for the Year and further underlying profit expansion. With continued investment planned to support new product development and increased marketing, the Group is well positioned for growth over the medium term.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

Year ended	2023 Underlying (£m)	2023 Reported (£m)	2022 Underlying (£m)	2022 Reported (£m)	Growth underlying	Growth reported
Revenue (see-through basis)*	182.7	182.7	172.0	172.0	6%	6%
Revenue (statutory basis)	180.7	180.7	167.4	167.4	8%	8%
Gross profit	105.0	105.0	101.7	101.7	3%	3%
Profit before taxation ("PBT")	31.5	(48.8)	30.3	(23.1)	4%	111%
Basic earnings per share	4.55	(6.13)	4.28	(3.93)	6%	56%
Free cash flow*		21.3		15.8		35%
Cash from operations		36.9		24.9		48%
Net debt*		91.2		102.0
Proposed total dividend per share		nil		1.776

OPERATING AND FINANCIAL SUMMARY

• Consumer Healthcare see-through revenue² up 11% at constant exchange rates ("CER") to £136.4m (2022: £125.2m) and up 9% on a reported basis.
• Continued strong consumer demand driving significant recovery in Kelo-Cote franchise revenues in H2, with FY 2023 revenues reaching £63.2m, +29% CER.
• Prescription Medicine performance broadly stable with revenues of £46.3m (2022: £46.8m).
• Non-cash impairments of £79.3m due to lowered future cash flow expectations and higher cost of capital, of which £46.4m relates to Amberen, £10.3m to Nizoral, and £22.6m to twenty smaller assets in aggregate.
• The correction of valuation errors for the prior year has yielded a £28.3m increase to non-cash impairment charges reported in 2022, of which £20.0m relates to Amberen and £8.3m to other intangibles
• Underlying PBT increased 4% to £31.5m (2022: £30.3m) and reported loss before tax was £48.8m (2022 restated: £23.1m loss).
• Robust free cash flow of £21.3m (2022: £15.8m), up 35%.
• Net debt reduced to £91.2m moving Group leverage to 2.05x at 31 December 2023 (2.69x at 30 June 2023, 2.57x at 31 December 2022).
• Dividend remains paused while Board considers new dividend policy with cash prioritised for reinvestment in the business to drive growth.

DEVELOPING OUR BUSINESS

• Strong performance from latest US acquisition, ScarAway, with £9.9m revenue, up 20% CER on like-for-like basis, exceeding original expectations.
• Progress continues to be made on brand innovation, with £3.5m of revenues from internal development (2022: £1.7m)
• Leveraged our ecommerce knowledge to broaden the geographic reach of our ecommerce platforms and enter new markets, with further expansion planned in 2024.
• Nizoral manufacturing moved from Belgium to Thailand driving cost savings, improving on time in full order delivery and reducing carbon emissions.
• 48% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions (versus 2018 baseline), on track to meet interim 65% reduction target by 2025 and achieve net zero in 2030. All scope 1 & 2 emissions offset through carbon credits.
• Scope 3 emissions target set to achieve net zero by 2044 (versus 2022 baseline), with an interim reduction target of 25% by 2030.
• Re-certified as a Great Place To Work® in UK, US, China and Singapore.
• Strengthened Board of Directors with appointment of Jeyan Heper, Martin Sutherland, Richard McKenzie and Eva-Lotta Sjöstedt and by the post year-end appointments of new Chair, Camillo Pane and new CEO, Nick Sedgwick
• Successful appeal of Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") decision clearing Alliance, Peter Butterfield and John Dawson former CEOs, of any wrongdoing. £7.9m provision for potential fine now released.

"I am delighted to be joining Alliance at such an important time for the company. Alliance has a strong global footprint in several fast growth Consumer Healthcare categories. Further to the announcement that Peter Butterfield will be leaving Alliance, I am looking forward to working with our new CEO, Nick Sedgwick, and, together with the wider management team, I am focused on ensuring we deliver shareholder value."

Camillo Pane, Chair of Alliance

Commenting on the results, Andrew Franklin, Chief Financial Officer of Alliance, said:

"Whilst the audit delay has been unsatisfactory, it has allowed us to implement a more robust intangible valuation review process. Despite the non-cash impairments our portfolio continues to provide a solid platform from which to grow our Consumer Healthcare brands and generate strong cash flow. In 2023, we increased marketing investment, launching award winning advertising campaigns for Kelo-Cote and MacuShield to accelerate organic sales growth whilst bringing new products to market. Our revenues through ecommerce are building strongly, as we strengthen our network of specialist partners and internal capabilities and enter new geographies.

"We remain confident in our medium to long-term performance as we focus our resources on those market segments in which we already have a strong presence and expertise in order to drive solid organic revenue growth above that of the broader Consumer Healthcare market."

Outlook for 2024

Alliance's clear focus on the core Consumer Healthcare business, in addition to our well-established, scalable platform, is expected to deliver continued modest revenue growth. Group performance in the five months to end May is in-line with the Board's expectation.

As we continue to refine our strategy we intend to move towards smaller, more regular order fulfilment, to create a more consistent revenue stream, reducing the stocking and destocking cycles we've experienced over the last two years as we've changed distributors, moved manufacturing and managed through the COVID environment.

In 2024 we will continue to increase investment in sales, marketing and innovation to maintain our brand leadership position in key categories.

The Board continues to anticipate that profits in FY 2024 will be in-line with FY 2023. As in previous years, performance is expected to be H2 weighted, particularly in Nizoral.

We remain confident in our ability to further capitalise on identified organic growth opportunities within the business and to deliver positive financial performance which will help drive the de-levering of our balance sheet.

_{1 Restated, see note 2 for further detail}

_{2 The performance of the Group is assessed using Alternative Performance Measures ("APMs"), which are measures that are not defined under IFRS, but are used by management to monitor ongoing business performance against both shorter term budgets and forecasts and against the Group's longer term strategic plans. APMs are defined in note 15.}

_{Specifically, see-through revenue includes all sales from Nizoral as if they had been invoiced by Alliance as principal. For statutory accounting purposes the product margin relating to Nizoral sales made on an agency basis is included within Revenue, in line with IFRS 15.}

_{Underlying measures exclude certain items classed as non-underlying to allow the Group's financial performance to be compared more easily against the majority of its peers. For further detail on non-underlying items please see note 5.}

ANALYST MEETING & WEBCAST

A meeting for analysts will be held at 10:00am this morning, [19] June 2024, at Buchanan, 107 Cheapside, London EC2V 6DN. For further details, analysts should contact Buchanan at [e-mail]

A live webcast of the analyst meeting will be available at this link:

https://stream.buchanan.uk.com/broadcast/65e0c6b14fdf0119e94f5747

A recording of the webcast will be made available at the investor section of Alliance's website, https://www.alliancepharmaceuticals.com/investors/

For further information:

Alliance Pharma plc
Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications: Cora McCallum
+ 44 (0)1249 466966
+ 44 (0)1249 705168
[e-mail]

Buchanan
Mark Court / Sophie Wills
+ 44 (0)20 7466 5000
[e-mail]

Deutsche Numis (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)
Freddie Barnfield / Duncan Monteith / Sher Shah
+ 44 (0)20 7260 1000

Investec Bank plc
Patrick Robb / Maria Gomez de Olea
+ 44 (0) 20 7597 5970

About Alliance

Alliance Pharma plc (AIM: APH) is a growing consumer healthcare company. Our purpose is to empower people to make a positive difference to their health and wellbeing by making our trusted and proven brands available around the world.

We deliver organic growth through investing in our priority brands and channels, in related innovation, and through selective geographic expansion to increase the reach of our brands. Periodically, we may look to enhance our organic growth through selective, complementary acquisitions.

Headquartered in the UK, the Group employs around 290 people based in locations across Europe, North America, and the Asia Pacific region. By outsourcing our manufacturing and logistics we remain asset-light and focused on maximising the value we can bring, both to our stakeholders and to our brands.

For more information on Alliance, please visit our website: www.alliancepharmaceuticals.com