Skin specialist grazed in markets as profits dip 10%

There were positive aspects of Almirall’s (ALM: MC) first quarter financial results but investors are likely to have been most struck by a 10% drop in profits as the company’s share price fell by 4% to 15.93 euros in five hours of trading after the figures were announced on Monday.

Revenue at Spain’s biggest drugmaker was up 5% compared to 2016’s first quarter at 210.7 million euros ($230.7 million), while its earnings before interest, amortization and depreciation (EBITDA) were 55 million euros, little changed from the 54.8 million euros figure of a year ago.

The drop in net profit was from 21.7 million euros to 19.6 million euros and one contributory factor was definitely the increase in quarter-one research and development expenses compared to a year ago. These rose by 26% to 24.2 million euros.