Stada share falls 17% on Q3 one-off charges of EUR97m.

M2 PHARMA-September 21, 2011-Stada share falls 17% on Q3 one-off charges of EUR97m(C)2011 M2 COMMUNICATIONS

21 September 2011 - The share in German Stada Arzneimittel AG (ETR:SAZ) lost on Wednesday more than 17% in floor trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on Xetra.

The stock plunged as Stada said that it expects one-time special effects of EUR97m (USD132.8m) to weigh on its third-quarter performance as the outstanding receivables due to its Serbian subsidiary Hemofarm from various local pharmaceutical wholesalers are potentially not recoverable.

The resulting burden on earnings after taxes is projected at EUR85m.

According to Equinet analyst Martin Possienke, the one-off charges will eat up three fourths of the firms's annual profit.

The stock plunged to EUR19.23 on the negative news, its lowest value in the last 12 months.

At 1533 GMT on Wednesday Stada's share had lost 17.23% to EUR19.26 in floor trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The stock fell 18.41% to EUR18.97 at 1534 GMT on Xetra.

(EUR1 = USD1.369)

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