Overall, the Group has performed well in the first half of 2016.  We have made considerable progress integrating the Roxane business (now known as West-Ward Columbus), transferring the Bedford products to our injectables manufacturing facilities and promoting strategic products in our MENA markets.  We continue to expect Group revenue to be in the range of $2.0 billion to $2.1 billion for the full year in constant currency, reflecting strong revenue growth across all three business segments, including the consolidation of ten months of revenue from West-Ward Columbus.

Generics

Revenue from our Generics business was $257 million in the first half of 2016.  Hikma's legacy Generics business contributed revenue of $64 million compared with $79 million in H1 2015, reflecting lower revenue from specific market opportunities as expected and the required divestment of certain legacy products, partially offset by steady growth in colchicine revenue.  West-Ward Columbus contributed revenue of $193 million in the first half following the close of the acquisition on 29 February 2016.  This is lower than our previous expectations due to slower approvals for certain new products.

For the full year, we continue to expect revenue for the combined Generics business to be in the range of $640 million to $670 million, including ten months of contribution from West-Ward Columbus.  The revenue impact from the delay in certain new product approvals will be largely offset by higher contract manufacturing revenue.  This change in the mix of revenue will have an adverse impact on profitability in 2016, which will also be impacted by higher than expected costs resulting from the acceleration in timing of certain pipeline-related litigation.  As a result, we now expect Generics core operating profit for the full year to be in the range of $30 million to $40 million.

We remain confident in the quality of the West-Ward Columbus pipeline and we continue to expect West-Ward Columbus revenue to increase to between $700 million to $750 million in 2017 as new product launches accelerate.  Our medium term expectations remain unchanged and we continue to expect an increase in West-Ward Columbus' EBITDA margin to around 35%.  This high level of profitability will be achieved through new product launches from West-Ward Columbus' differentiated pipeline and the delivery of cost savings.  In this regard, we have made good initial progress since closing the acquisition and we expect to achieve cost savings in the range of $35 million to $45 million by the end of 2017. 

Injectables

Our global Injectables business continued to perform well in the first half of 2016, with revenue growth of around 3% to $356 million and numerous product approvals across our markets.  We continue to expect Injectables revenue growth to be in the mid to high-single digits for the full year in 2016.  We now expect core operating margin to be around 38%, up from our previous guidance of 36%, due to a more favourable product mix.

Branded

Branded revenue was up 1% in constant currency or down 7% on a statutory basis to $264 million.  Our strategy of focusing on higher margin products enabled us to maintain core operating profit in line with H1 2015 despite a significant impact from adverse currency movements against the US dollar.  As in previous years, we expect Branded revenue to be stronger in the second half, reflecting the usual seasonality of this business.  Our guidance for the Branded business remains unchanged.  For the full year in 2016, we continue to expect the Branded business to perform in line with historical trends on a constant currency basis.  We expect revenue growth to be driven by our focus on strategic products and the strength of our sales and marketing teams.  We continue to expect an improvement in Branded core operating margin driven by revenue growth and a focus on higher margin products. 

A conference call for analysts and investors will be held today at 17:45 UK time. To join the conference call please dial: +44 (0) 203 139 4830; UK toll free: 0808 237 0030; US: +1 718 873 9077; US Toll-Free: +1 866 928 7517.  The participant pin is: 61764968#.

An audio replay of the conference call will remain available for 30 days and can be accessed by dialling: +44 (0) 203 426 2807; UK toll free: 0808 237 0026. The conference number is: 675668#.

This announcement contains inside information.