Sartorius Stedim Biotech Q1 Profit, Order Climb; Backs FY21, Mid-range Targets

(RTTNews) - French pharmaceutical and laboratory equipment supplier Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SDMHF) reported Wednesday that its first-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders climbed to 114.5 million euros from last year's 74.7 million euros. Earnings per share grew to 1.24 euros from 0.81 euro a year ago.

Relevant/underlying net profit was 151.2 million euros, compared to 80.7 million euros last year. Underlying earnings per share were 1.64 euros, compared to 0.88 euros a year ago.

Underlying EBITDA climbed 82.8 percent to 232 million euros. The corresponding margin rose to 35.4 percent from 30.0 percent last year.

Group sales revenue surged 55.2 percent to 655.2 million euros from 422.1 million euros last year. Sales climbed 61.1 percent in constant currencies, benefiting from the ramp-up in coronavirus vaccine production by many manufacturers.

Order intake grew 87.8 percent to 1 billion euros, and the growth was 95.9 percent in constant currencies. Of this, a 37 percentage point growth was related to the coronavirus.

Looking ahead, the company confirmed its growth forecast for fiscal 2021, which had been raised in mid-March based on very strong order intake and high demand anticipated to continue in the further course of the year.

The company projects consolidated sales growth of around 38 percent, of which 5.5 percentage points are expected to be contributed by acquisitions and about 18 percentage points by business related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Regarding profitability, an underlying EBITDA margin of about 33 percent is expected.

Further, mid-range targets updated in January 2021 remain unchanged and assume that by 2025, consolidated sales revenue will increase to around 4 billion euros at an underlying EBITDA margin of around 33 percent.