(Reuters) – Indivior Plc raised its revenue forecast for fiscal 2023, but lowered its profit expectations due to operating expenses associated with its buyout of Opiant Pharmaceuticals last month.
The London-listed drugmaker’s shares were up 3.2% at 1,521 pence as of 1125 GMT.
The Opioid addiction treatment maker said it expects annual net revenue to range from $970 million to $1.04 billion, compared with an earlier forecast of $950 million to $1.02 billion, reflecting the estimated contribution from Opiant.
It forecast adjusted operating profit slightly below the previous year’s adjusted operating income of $212 million. It had previously anticipated annual profit above last year’s.
Opioid addiction has long been a crisis in the United States, Indivior’s biggest market. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said nearly 75% of the 91,799 drug overdose deaths in 2020 involved an opioid.
Indivior last year set aside $290 million as provisions for antitrust litigations it has been facing across the U.S. for allegedly using illegal tactics to shield its opioid addiction treatment film Suboxone from generic competition.
The company on Thursday said its adjusted operating profit rose 31% to $71 million in the first quarter, driven by robust demand for its substitution products for opioid addiction.
(Reporting by Muhammed Husain in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
