British pharmaceuticals company Vectura Group PLC (LON:VEC) announced in its investor update that its current outlook remained in line with its guidance for the full-year and it was entertaining the possibility of returning capital to its shareholders.
The Company’s chief executive James Ward-Lilley said in speech notes for the company’s AGM, “We continue to focus on executing our strategy and build on the strong operational performance we reported in our 2018 preliminary results,”
“We were very pleased with the outcome of our US GSK litigation and the recent EU regulatory filing for QVM149 by Novartis (SWX:NOVN).”
“We look forward to additional news flow in H2 2019; including VR315 repeat clinical study read-out and resubmission, possible partnering of VR647 and potential orphan drug designation for our enhanced niche portfolio of assets.”
“Given our strong balance sheet and ongoing cash generation we continue to review our capital allocation policy, including consideration of material shareholder returns, and will provide further updates in due course.”
Investor considerations for Vectura
Investors in forums discussing the capital return have commented that a better course of action would perhaps be a buy-back of the some 66.7 million shares held by out-of-company stakeholders, though some remain optimistic that the presently weak sterling will bolster revenue, profitability and cash flow.
The Company’s shares have dipped during trading on Wednesday, down 1.69% or 1.35p to 78.5p per share 29/05/19 12:40 GMT. Peel Hunt and Shore Capital analysts have ‘Reiterated’ their ‘Hold’ stance on Vectura stock, while Numis analysts have ‘Reiterated’ their ‘Buy’ stance.