“The Meda Group expects to achieve sales of about SEK 12,700 million and an EBITDA of about SEK 4,700 million for full-year 2011.”
MEDA (STO:MEDAA):
· Group net sales reached SEK 12,856 million (11,571). At fixed currency rates, sales increased 18%.
· EBITDA rose to SEK 4,683 million (4,306), corresponding to a 36.4% margin (37.2).
· EBITDA, excluding non-recurring effects[1] and currency effects, was SEK 5,030 million (4,074), yielding a 36.8% margin (35.2).
· Operating profit amounted to SEK 2,644 million (2,529). Excluding non-recurring effects1 and currency effects, operating profit reached SEK 2,928 million (2,297), corresponding to an increase of 27%.
· Profit after tax totaled SEK 1,608 million (1,428). Excluding non-recurring effects, profit after tax totaled SEK 1,508[2] million (1,240[3]).
· Earnings per share reached SEK 5.32 (4.72). Excluding non-recurring effects, earnings per share totaled SEK 4.99(2) (4.10(3)).
· Cash earnings per share rose to SEK 9.07 (8.15).
· Proposed dividend per share: SEK 2.25 (2.00).
Highlights
Outcome compared with forecast for full-year 2011
· In its interim report for Q3 2011, Meda published the following forecast for full-year 2011: "The Meda Group expects to achieve sales of about SEK 12,700 million and an EBITDA of about SEK 4,700 million for full-year 2011."
· The outcome comparable to the forecast was sales of SEK 12,856 million and an EBITDA of SEK 4,722 million (excluding restructuring costs).
Proposed dividend per share: SEK 2.25 (2.00)
· The board proposes a dividend per share of SEK 2.25 (2.00).
· The proposed dividend means 25 percent of free cash flow for the year will be distributed to shareholders.
· Yield would be about 3 percent (at the current share price).
CEO STATEMENT
The fiscal year 2011 for Meda was characterized by preparations for aggressive initiatives in the coming years. Our efforts to establish Meda on new growth markets, make acquisitions, in-licensing, out-licensing, and submit regulatory filings for Meda's new products have been thorough. We prioritized several areas in 2011:
• Preparations for NDAs and launch of new products in Meda's pipeline such as Dymista and Zyclara
• Ongoing initiatives in growth markets
• Additional resources and the supply of new products for the OTC area
Demand for pharmaceuticals in emerging markets is growing rapidly, and Meda holds a very interesting product portfolio for these markets. In 2011, we took major strides toward establishing our own marketing organizations in countries such as Australia, Mexico, China, South Africa, and additional markets in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Expansion on other major growth markets such as Russia and Turkey continues.
We are pleased that Meda's pipeline continues to produce new products. This year, we expect amongst others registration approval in the US for Dymista, a product that we believe has great potential. The market in the US and Europe alone, and which Dymista targets, amounts to about SEK 25 billion. Dymista has shown good results in Phase-III studies such as faster, better efficacy than the market leading product, and new drug applications were submitted in the US and Europe in 2011.
In conjunction with Meda's acquisition of companies and product portfolios with OTC products in 2011, sales in this area grew to about 20 percent of total consolidated sales. We are awaiting launch of OTC products in several markets in which we expect for example SB12 and Nalox to have significant potential.
The future
Year 2012 will be important as we enter the next stage of our business plan. This means - in addition to Meda's significant acquisition capacity - the international launch of new products in parallel with investments in new geographic markets. Market investments in the coming year will increase, and we expect to exceed the 2011 level by up to SEK 700 million. Even if we expect a strong organic sales growth already this year, the market investments will short term impact profitability. Our ambition is to maintain good profit margins with these unique forward-looking initiatives that are ahead of us. This means that Meda's ambition for an EBITDA margin in excess of 30% remains, and we expect to be close to that level in 2012.
Anders Lönner
Group President and CEO