The pharmaceutical company Reig Jofre will open a subsidiary in the Czech Republic this year, to cover this market and that of Slovakia, and is considering doing so later in Hungary, to follow in the footsteps of its landing in Poland and grow in Eastern Europe.
Ignasi Biosca, CEO of the Catalan company, pointed out that “after a record 2023”, in which sales reached 316 million euros (17% more) and operating profit or ebitda reached 35 million (with an increase of 15%) “we want to focus on growing profitability.”
The company took a great leap forward with the investments in the Toledo antibiotics factory and the new injectable factory in Sant Joan Despí (Barcelona), which raised the debt to 69 million euros in 2021. Now this has been reduced to 1.6 times the ebitda “and we want to take advantage of cash generation and financial capacity to look for opportunities to grow.”
The company landed in Poland in 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, and in just two years it has reached sales of 13 million euros, with 35 people on staff, from its “specialized pharmacy” division, which includes osteoarticular and dermatological products. The company has already introduced its other two divisions, pharmaceutical technologies and self-care, in the country. “They are markets that are at a high point of growth, like we were in Spain a few years ago, and not so much in price control,” he said.
The other axis of growth for the pharmaceutical company will be the rotation of the products it manufactures for third parties in its plants, incorporating more complex drugs with greater added value.
Biosca framed its investment in Leanbio in this strategy, which will reach 6.8 million euros between debt and capital, so that the firm can launch a new production plant in Sant Quirze del Vallès that would be operational in 2025.
Reig Jofre already controls 10% of Leanbio’s capital, a percentage that will initially rise to 24% and could increase until its integration into the pharmaceutical group. In Biosca’s opinion, this is a “strategic investment” since it will allow synergies to be generated with the new Reig Jofre plant: the active ingredient could be produced in Leanbio and the final medicine in the Sant Joan Despí plant.
The company, which held its shareholders meeting this morning in Barcelona, ??highlighted the success of its internationalization: with a presence in more than 70 countries, Spain now accounts for only 45% of its sales, while 43% come from the rest of the world. Europe and 12% from other countries in the world, where they grew by 47% driven by Asia and the sale of injectable products in those markets.
Reig Jofre has the Reig family as its first shareholder, with 63% of the share capital. Yesterday, the shareholders meeting approved the payment of a flexible dividend for an amount of 3.2 million euros, which represents a “pay out” of 35% of the net result.
