Alltracel Upbeat on Q1 Performance

Irish biopharmaceutical company Alltracel is expecting first quarter sales of €4.1m. The company says its revenues are being fuelled by m-doc shipments in Europe, the start-up of Seal-On trade shipments to Wal-Mart and Walgreen in the US and strong private label dental floss shipments in the US and Europe.The company, which is listed on London's AIM, said its m-doc partnership programme continues to strengthen. The m-doc product helps bleeding to stop. During the first quarter of 2005, the company also completed the €8m acquisition of Westone, the specialist oral care product development business.'Our Q1 revenue performance reflects the successful acquisition of Westone in January, as well as continued growth from Alltracel's core woundcare business,' commented Alltracel's CEO Tony Richardson.'We remain comfortable to exceed full year revenue expectations of €21m,' he added.Earlier this week, the company reported an operating loss of €4.4m for 2004 compared to a loss of €2.8m in 2003. This was as a result of a fourfold increase in marketing expenditure, the hiring of four new senior managers and increased costs associated with the increased levels of trading.However, revenue jumped by 355% for the year to €4.6m compared to €1m the previous year as the company's brand partnership programme signed up an additional 25 brand partners during the year.