The multinational blood products Grifols earned 208 million euros last year, 10.4% more than the previous year, as explained to the National Securities Market Commission: up again but without yet fully recovering the profitability that had reached before the pandemic due to the increase in the cost of plasma donations.
The Grifols family group, now chaired by Thomas Glanzmann, nevertheless managed to reverse the drop in plasma donations, the raw material needed to produce their medicines, and these grew by 25% last year.
Revenues reached 6,064 million euros, a record figure that was 12.4% higher than that of 2021 at a constant exchange rate (mainly without taking into account changes in the euro against the dollar). Excluding the currency impact, revenue growth would have been 23%.
By divisions, the main one, called Bioscience, related to the manufacture and sale of medicines derived from plasma, entered 5,005 million euros, 23% more at constant exchange rates (which is 31% higher in monetary terms), “supported by on solid underlying demand, prices, the product mix, Biotest’s contribution and exchange rates,” the company says. Without taking into account the purchase of the German company Biotest, this division’s revenues would have grown by 5.1% at constant exchange rates.
The Diagnostic division, dedicated to the manufacture and development of devices, instrumentation and reagents for transfusion medicine, contributed 671 million, with a decrease of 19.7% due to the drop in sales of products to test for Covid and the cessation of of the mandatory nature of Zika virus testing. The so-called Bio Supplies, for its part, grew by 13%.
The firm’s gross margin has dropped to 36.8% compared to 39.8% in 2021, due to the impact of the incorporation of Biotest, the higher plasma costs that it captured in 2021 and 2022, which are what it now uses in their sales, increased compensation to donors, and increased labor costs.
The company explained that it is focusing its management on the expansion of margins. To do this, it is optimizing its network of plasma centers, closing those with low performance: it has closed in the fourth quarter of 2022, with several additional centers that it expects to close in the first half of 2023. The group recalled that it has a plan to operational improvements to reduce costs by 400 million euros per year.
Victor Grifols Deu and Raimon Grifols Roura, solidarity CEOs, highlighted in a statement that “Grifols has closed 2022 fulfilling its commitments, while taking difficult but necessary measures to further strengthen the organization”.
The company closed the year with a net financial debt of 9,191.3 million euros, much higher than the 5,828 million of last year due to the impact of the purchase of the German Biotest. However, the improvement in margins has reduced its weight, up to 7.1 times the operating profit or ebitda (which closed the year at 1,221 million euros, 20.1% of sales). The weight of the debt was 9 times the ebitda at the end of 2021. The firm highlighted that it has a “solid liquidity position” of 1,562 million euros, including a cash position of 548 million euros.
By 2023, the company expects revenue to grow between 8 and 10% and operating profit or ebitda to grow to 1,700 million euros. “Grifols’ fundamentals remain solid. The company continues to execute its priorities with a long-term vision and is well positioned for future growth, focused on financial performance, operational excellence and adding value,” the statement said.
