(Reuters) – Medical equipment supplier West Pharmaceutical Services Inc raised its annual profit outlook on Thursday after strong sales of proprietary and injection-related products helped top quarterly profit and revenue estimates.
However, the drug-packaging supplier reported a lower profit compared with a year earlier, as COVID-related sales declined.
During the pandemic, biotech and pharmaceutical firms benefited from surging demand for lab equipment, including COVID-19 testing tools.
Pharmaceutical companies have warned of a plunge in pandemic-related product sales this year as cases of COVID-19 infections decline.
Brokerage William Blair analyst Matt Larew said in a note he views this as a signal “that packaging remains a lone bright spot in the broader bioprocessing ecosystem.”
West Pharmaceutical posted an adjusted profit of $1.98 per share for the quarter ended March 31, compared with estimates of $1.67 per share, according to Refinitiv data.
The company now expects to report a profit of $7.50 to $7.65 per share for the year, compared with its previous guidance of $7.25 to $7.40 per share.
The Pennsylvania-based firm cut its COVID-19 sales expectation for the year to $60 million from $85 million.
The company said its capital spending program remains on track and that it expects global capacity expansion projects to be completed throughout the rest of the year and in 2024.
(Reporting by Nandhini Srinivasan in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
