JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's second-largest drug firm, Adcock Ingram, reported a 5 percent decline in first-half profit on Tuesday, hit by the weaker rand and as debt-laden consumers opted for cheaper medicines.
Adcock, which is talks with several players looking to buy all or part of it, said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 188 cents in the six months to end-March compared with 198.4 cents a year earlier.
Headline EPS, South Africa's main profit gauge, excludes certain one-off items.
The weaker rand currency, which has depreciated by about 16 percent this year, has made imports of chemicals used in the making of drugs more expensive.
Adcock has also been as debt-laden consumers cut the size of their purchases or move to cheaper products.
Adcock has the largest share of South Africa's market for over-the-counter drugs, which are not covered by medical insurance and therefore sensitive to a downturn in consumer spending.
South African retail sales slowed to 2.8 percent year-on-year in March from nearly 4 percent in February, official data showed last month.
Adcock snubbed South Africa's Bidvest $675 million offer for a majority stake in April, calling it "opportunistic" but has subsequently received "several proposals" for control or all of it.
Adcock did not comment on Tuesday on the talks with potential buyers.
Shares in the company have surged more than 25 percent so far this year, outpacing a largely flat Johannesburg's All-share index.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/africas-adcock-h1-profit-lower-weak-rand-bites-064505131.html
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