The Italian company, which gets 83 per cent of its revenue from the pharmaceutical industry, saw its pre-tax profit climb to €13.5m in the second half of 2006 from a pre-tax loss of €1.9m in 2005 on the back of a 15.5 per cent rise in revenues.
IMA has attributed its improved fortunes to a rising demand from the pharmaceutical industry for machines and complete lines while praising its numerous new machine models.
Responding to the increased regulatory focus on manufacturing practices that has made drug manufacturers apprehensive, many machinery makers have dropped their prices to maintain their market share, so the Bologna-based firm was pleased to see orders pick up in the start of the year.
IMA's net debt however jumped 16.2 per cent year-on-year to €118.3m, as the firm was hit by outlays of €17.5m for the acquisitions of VIMA Impianti, IMA-Telstar and Packaging Systems Holding.
IMA concluded a joint venture agreement with the Telstar Group's freeze drying machinery business in August 2005 and in March 2006 it completed the acquisition of Vima Impianti, a company that manufactures machines for dosing pharmaceutical products, for feeding plants manufacturing products in capsules and tablets, as well as dedusting systems for the pharmaceutical industry.
The tranche that went to Packaging Systems Holding was to acquire equity interests in Nova Packaging Systems, which makes automatic machines for the bottling of capsules and tablets in the US and which IMA took over in 2004.
Capsule filling is the biggest market for IMA, where it holds a 33 per share, but it also has a strong presence in blister packaging (28 per cent), sterile filling (20 per cent) and coating (17 per cent).
"This half-year report not only demonstrates management's ability to achieve significant results already in the first few months after the introduction of the new corporate structure, but also reflects a new approach to research and innovation vis-a-vis the pharmaceutical industry, which will lead the group towards new forms of collaboration with end-users," said IMA's managing director Alberto Vacchi.
"So we are optimistic about the positive estimates announced for the current year and about IMA's ability to continue growing, both internally and externally."
Three months ago the company issued a forecast for 2006 that projected operating profit at around €44m, up €8.4m from 2005, however this estimate has now been revised, as IMA sees operating profit reaching €47m for the year.
Nevertheless, this optimistic revisal is contingent on a strong second half in 2006 - IMA is relying on the normal timing of deliveries in this sector, which traditionally sees the modest portion of revenues concentrated in the period January-March and a rise later on.