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Nycomed unit sales slow
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December 15, 2000: 7:28 a.m. ET
U.K. health care firm's life science unit hurt by product delays; IPO delayed
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Healthcare firm Nycomed Amersham PLC said sales in its life science arm had been slower than expected, and it was delaying the unit's planned initial share offering.
Delays in bringing APBiotech products to the market have "held back" sales growth in the second half, but Nycomed's overall earnings in the first 10 months of the year were in line with expectations, the British company said in a statement Friday.
The offering of about 10 percent of Nycomed's jointly-owned APBiotech will take place on the U.S. Nasdaq market soon after Nycomed reports results  at the end of February, "subject to market conditions." The company had indicated in October that it hoped to carry out the IPO by end of 2000.
APBiotech makes medical research supplies and sequencing machines used in mapping the human genome. Analysts expect the IPO to value the company – held 55 percent by Nycomed and 45 percent by U.S. drugmaker Pharmacia Corp. – at between $4 billion and $6 billion.
The Nycomed statement "read slightly weaker than we might have expected," Peter Cartwright, an analyst at Williams de Broe, told CNNfn.com
"Clearly they are roughly on track. The fact that the IPO keeps slipping later and later, that's more of a concern," he added.
The sales warning sent Nycomed (NAM) shares down 4.3 percent to 530.25 pence, bringing the company's market value to £3.36 billion ($4.95 billion). 
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Nycomed Amersham
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