(Alliance News) - Alliance Pharma PLC on Tuesday said annual profit dropped despite revenue ticking up, as its impairment of goodwill and intangible assets increased significantly.

Meanwhile, Logistics Development Group PLC on Tuesday said it bought further shares in Alliance Pharma, spending GBP6.8 million.

Alliance Pharma is a Chippenham, England-based distributor of consumer healthcare brands and prescription medicines, while Logistics Development is a London-based investment company.

Alliance Pharma reported pretax profit plunged 71% to GBP5.2 million in 2022 from GBP18.2 million in 2021, despite revenue ticking up 1.4% to GBP172.0 million from GBP169.6 million.

This was largely due to impairment of goodwill and intangible assets trebling to GBP18.2 million from GBP6.2 million.

Alliance Pharma declared an final dividend of 1.184p, up 5.0% from 1.128p a year earlier, taking its total 2022 dividend to 1.776p, up 5.0% from 1.691p in 2021.

"Our portfolio continues to provide a robust platform from which to grow our Consumer Healthcare brands," said Alliance Pharma Chief Financial Officer Andrew Franklin.

"In 2022, we successfully leveraged our existing infrastructure, acquiring ScarAway and the US rights to Kelo-Cote to create our first truly global brand and bringing additional growth opportunities into the business. We also started to realise the benefits of our investment in innovation and development with the launch of Kelo-Cote Kids gel."

Looking ahead, Alliance Pharma said it has "robust plans" to drive growth in 2023, with its expectations for the year unchanged.

"We remain confident in our long-term performance having refreshed our strategy in 2022, to better align our business with the evolving dynamics of the Consumer Healthcare market," Franklin added.

"Going forward, our efforts will be focused 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."

Also on Tuesday, Logistics Development said it purchased an additional 10.2 million shares in Alliance Pharma at an average price of 66.83 pence per share, taking its holding to 29.0 million Alliance Pharma shares, a 5.4% stake.

Shares in Alliance Pharma were up 1.0% to 58.19p each in London on Tuesday midday, while Logistics Development shares were down 1.3% to 14.80p.

By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News reporter

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