Nektar Therapeutics
(
NKTR
) reported a loss of 46 cents per share in the fourth quarter of
2012, wider than the year-ago loss of 33 cents and the Zacks
Consensus Estimate of a loss of 45 cents. The wider loss during
the quarter was primarily due to higher expenses.
Nektar suffered a loss of $1.50 per share for the full year
2012, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.48
and the year-ago loss of $1.19 per share. Nektar's full-year
revenues were $81.2 million, up 13.6% year over year. Nektar's
2012 revenues were just above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $80
million.
Quarter in Details
Total revenues in the reported quarter jumped 34% to $21.1
million. The increase in quarterly revenues was primarily due to
higher product sales and non-cash royalty revenues related to
UCB
's (
UCBJF
) Cimzia and
Roche Holding
's (
RHHBY
) Mircera. Revenues were above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of
$20 million.
Total revenues comprised net product revenues, royalty
revenues, license and collaboration revenues and others.
Nektar's net product revenues of approximately $10.4 million
were up 71.3% during the reported quarter. The company generated
non-cash royalty revenues of $3.9 million in the fourth quarter
of 2012 related to Cimzia and Mircera. In Feb 2012, the company
had sold all its rights to receive future royalty payments on the
net sales of Cimzia and Mircera to Royalty Pharma for $124
million.
Nektar's royalty revenues decreased 70.7% to $0.9 million
during the quarter. The company's license, collaboration and
other revenues also decreased in the fourth quarter. The company
recorded license, collaboration and other revenues of $5.9
million, down 10.2%.
Nektar's R&D expenses were up 39.2% to $46.3 million in
the fourth quarter of 2012. R&D expenses during the quarter
increased primarily due to higher clinical expenses related to
NKTR-102 and NKTR-181. However, the company's general and
administrative (G&A) expenses declined 5.5% to $10.9
million.
2013 Outlook
Apart from disclosing its financial results, Nektar provided
guidance for 2013. The company expects total revenues in the
range of $200-$210 million, including potential milestone
payments of $95 million. The revenue guidance also includes $20
million of non-cash royalty revenues in relation to Cimzia and
Mircera.
R&D expenses for 2013 are expected in the range of $200
million to $220 million. The company expects to complete the
enrollment process for the phase III BEACON study on NKTR-102 by
the end of this year. The company also expects to initiate a
phase III study on NKTR-181 this yaer. Nektar's G&A expenses
for 2013 are expected to be $42-$44 million.
Nektar, a biopharma company, currently carries a Zacks Rank #4
(Sell). However, other biopharma stocks such as
Array BioPharma, Inc.
(
ARRY
) carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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