United Drug posted an 11.4 per cent rise in first-half pretax profit today and said it was on track to meet analysts' earnings expectations for the full-year.
"We're signing up to the forecasts that are out there in the market," chief executive Liam FitzGerald said, adding that expectations for adjusted earnings of about 20 cents a share for the year to the end of September looked "around right".
The company is benefiting from the ageing population and the associated rise in healthcare spending.
Adjusted to exclude intangible amortisation, analysts expect the pharmaceuticals wholesaler and medical equipment supplier to post a 12 per cent rise in full-year earnings per share to 19.9 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.
Goodbody analyst Ian Hunter, whose forecast is in line with the consensus, said he may upgrade his estimate after the company posted a 14 per cent rise in earnings for the six months to the end of March to 9.33 cents per diluted share.
"This is a strong performance," he wrote in a research note.
Pretax profit rose to 24.2 per cent in the period as sales climbed 12 per cent to €707.9 million.
Shares in the company, which had edged back towards record highs ahead of the results, were down 1.3 per cent at €3.85 in Dublin at 9.25am against a flat ISEQ index.