United Drug has said it is exploring the possibility of delisting its shares from the Irish stock exchange and moving to a UK listing.
It said it was considering the move given the growth in its international operations and the ''substantial presence'' of international investors on its share register.
The company said inclusion on the London FTSE index would result in an increase in international investor awareness.
United Drug's shares closed up 4.6% in Dublin this evening.
A statement from the Irish Stock Exchange said that United Drug accounts for about 1.1% of the ISEQ index.
The stock exchange said it noted today's announcement from the company about reviewing its listing arrangements to allow for potential inclusion in the FTSE UK Index Series.
It said the review was prompted by the rules for inclusion in the FTSE UK Index Series, which require that at least 50% of trading in a company's shares take place in the UK. About 90% of United Drug's trading currently takes place in Dublin.
Trading update reports strong performance
In an interim management statement, United Drug said that trading across the group had been strong with group revenues and profits for the nine months to June ahead of the same time last year.
It said that much of this growth has come in its international businesses outside of Ireland. They now account for 70% of group profits.
During the six month period, the company bought Watermeadow Medical and Pharmexx. The company said these strategically important deals will help to significantly grow its international footprint.
United Drug said that its sales, marketing and medical division reported strong trading during the nine month period with all parts of the business seeing profits ahead of the same time last year.
Its healthcare supply chain division also saw revenues and profits were are ahead of last year despite significant healthcare austerity measures in both Ireland and the UK.
Revenues and profits at United Drug's packaging and speciality unit are ''well ahead'' of the same time last year, despite a slowdown in the Europe end of the business. It said its Irish speciality business has grown well and has a ''number of exciting opportunities as community and home healthcare services develop in Ireland.
The company said that based on the strong trading performance for the year to date, the outlook for the rest of the year, and stability in current exchange rates, the group now expects adjusted diluted earnings per share for the year to the end of September to be between 8-10% ahead of last year.
''The group also expects to deliver another strong cash flow performance in the year. With strong cash flows and modest debt levels, the group remains well positioned to support its future growth objectives both organically and through additional acquisitions'', the company said in its trading update.
