HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - Pharmaceutical drug developer Evotec continues to struggle with weak demand, resulting in underutilization and high fixed costs. The company, based in Hamburg, announced on Wednesday that additional expenses related to the start-up of a facility operated by its biotech subsidiary JEB in Toulouse have further impacted its financial performance. As a result, the operating loss for the first nine months of the year was significantly higher than in the same period last year.
However, Evotec has now found a definitive solution for JEB: As announced on Tuesday evening, the Hamburg-based group is selling the subsidiary to Sandoz. The completion of the deal, which was first announced in the summer, was well received on the stock market: Evotec shares, listed on the SDax, rose by as much as 9 percent in early pre-market trading.
After Sandoz and Evotec had already signed a letter of intent in July, the agreement has now been finalized. Sandoz will take over Just-Evotec Biologics (JEB), including its production facility in Toulouse, France. According to the companies, Sandoz will pay approximately 350 million US dollars in cash for the JEB shares and the licensing fees for JEB's production technology.
In the first nine months of the year, Evotec's revenue fell by 7 percent compared to the same period last year, totaling around 535 million euros. The adjusted operating loss widened from 6 million to 16 million euros. At the bottom line, the net loss narrowed somewhat from 155 million to 118 million euros, thanks in part to cost-saving measures.
