First-quarter revenues up 10.4% to EUR 296.7m; adjusted EBITDA margin reaches 15.5%; net income grows by 41.7% to EUR 10.2m; adjusted earnings per share increased to EUR 0.36; acquisition in India boosts activities in emerging markets.
Gerresheimer AG, one of the leading global partners to the pharma and healthcare industry, increased revenues by 10.4% in the first quarter of the new, 2013 financial year. “The strong revenue growth in the first quarter largely relates to increased revenues in the Plastic Systems Division. The increase is mostly attributable to higher revenues from engineering services and tools paving the way for future business with drug delivery devices. Our latest acquisitions in India also contributed to the surge in revenues. There is furthermore healthy demand for pharma products overall,” said Uwe Röhrhoff, CEO of Gerresheimer AG.
Gerresheimer increased revenues in the first quarter of financial year 2013 (1 December 2012 to 30 November 2013) by a substantial 10.4% to EUR 294.7 million. The revenue increase was due primarily to strong organic growth in the Plastic Systems Division. This notably generated large revenues with tools and engineering services. There was also favourable demand for drug delivery devices such as insulin pens, asthma inhalers and prefillable glass syringes. Sound revenues were also attributable to primary pharma packaging such as glass injection vials, cartridges as well as plastic containers for solid and liquid medications. The two Indian companies acquired in 2012 – Triveni, a producer of plastic primary pharmaceutical packaging, and Neutral Glass, which produces glass pharmaceutical vials – also contributed to the marked revenue increase compared with the prior year.
The Gerresheimer Group generated adjusted EBITDA of EUR 46.0 million in the first quarter of 2013, an increase of 2.1% on the prior-year quarter. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 15.5%, below the 16.8% margin in the comparative period. The main reason for the lower margin was the exceptionally strong revenue growth in engineering services and tools business in the Plastic Systems Division. While the tools business and engineering services have narrower margins, they are important in paving the way for the subsequent production of drug delivery devices. Net income after tax increased relative to the prior-year quarter by 41.7% to EUR 10.2 million. Adjusted earnings per share rose by EUR 0.03 to EUR 0.36.
Gerresheimer’s capital expenditure in the first quarter of 2013 was EUR 16.6 million, EUR 1.7 million more than a year earlier. In December 2012, Gerresheimer also purchased 75% of shares in Triveni, the leading Indian producer of pharmaceutical plastic packaging and closures.
For financial year 2013, Gerresheimer continues to anticipate revenue growth of 5% to 6% at constant exchange rates, even though this forecast seems slightly more conservative now against the background of the strong revenue growth in the first quarter of 2013. The company expects to generate an adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 19.4%. Due to the healthy growth prospects, capital expenditure in financial year 2013 will be on a par with the past financial year, meaning some 9% to 10% of the revenue at constant exchange rates.
“Of key importance is the expansion of our production capacity for glass and plastic medical application systems at our Bünde and Pfreimd plants in Germany and our Horsovsky Tyn plant in the Czech Republic. The second major growth factor consists in boosting local production for primary glass and plastic pharma packaging in dynamic emerging markets,” explained Uwe Röhrhoff.