Sirtex FY12 profit grows nearly 50%

Sirtex Medical (ASX:SRX) increased its FY12 profit by 49%, on the back of strong sales of its SIR-Spheres targeted radiation therapy treatments for liver cancer.

The company reported a post-tax profit for the financial year of $17.1 million, on the back of an 18.7% increase in revenue to a record $82.6 million.

The main driver for this growth was the previously-disclosed 23% increase in SIR-Sphere dose sales during the year.

In a report to shareholders, Sirtex CEO Gilman Wong attributed the strong growth in unit sales in the US and Asia-Pacific to the company's investments in expanding its sales presence in the markets.

He said the company has been responding to the economic challenges constricting growth in Europe – where unit sales grew a mere 4% over FY11 – including increasing its sales force in anticipation of an upswing in demand.

Looking to the future, Wong said the company has “a promising outlook ahead...we expect continued sales growth across all regions due to the growing awareness of the effectiveness of SIR-Spheres microspheres.”

Sirtex is currently making investments in long-term clinical trials and increased manufacturing capacity as part of its 2020Vision long-term growth strategy.

In FY12, the company invested $8.5 million in five post-marketing clinical trials, including its large-scale Sirflox study.

As of the end of the financial year, Sirtex had no debt and cash in hand of $49 million, the financial results show.

Sirtex (ASX:SRX) shares were trading 1.47% lower at $7.390 as of around 2pm on Wednesday.