Australia's CSL on the rise as profits increase 30%

Australia’s CSL is on the rise – posting a 30% rise in profits, driven mainly by its success in the US market.

The company posted a net profit of $1.73 billion for the year ended June 30, in line with consensus estimates from Reuters analysts of around $1.72 billion.

Results were ahead of the company’s own forecast of $1.68 - $1.71 billion, and the pharma announced a final dividend of $0.93 per share, up from $0.72 per share last year.

CSL owns Pennsylvania-based Behring, which saw revenues grow by 13% and accounted for 86% of the company’s haul this year.

Seqirus, the world’s second largest flu vaccines company is beginning to break even, with earnings before interest of $52.4 million, helped by seasonal vaccine sales in the US.

CSL is a success story for pharma in a country dominated by industries such as mining and banks.

Once a small biotech, CSL is growing rapidly and was included in GlobalData’s top 25 pharmaceutical companies for 2017.

The company has already uplifted its guidance once since May, driving up shares to the point that it is one of Australia’s largest five corporations.

CSL markets a range of protein-based products including immunoglobulins and haemophilia therapies.

Earlier this month CSL announced it is to invest $240 million in expanding manufacturing capacity at its US production plant in Illinois.

The first steps of an estimated 1.8 million square foot addition are to begin this year immediately south of Bourbonnais Township, which already employs around 1,400 people.

The expansion could take as long as 12 years to complete, and the company has not given an estimate of the number of new jobs that will be created.

Project manager Chris Abell told the website Pharmaceutical Online: “This will be a world-class facility. This project is transformational. It is transformational for CSL Behring, the Kankakee community, the state of Illinois and beyond.”