The blood products manufacturer Grifols increased its revenue by 14.9% in the first six months of the year, to 3,225 million euros, and returned to profit in the second quarter, of 52 million euros. As he explained to the CNMV, his semi-annual calculation continues to show losses of 56 million due to the cost of his restructuring plan of 140 million euros. Adjusted net profit –without the impact of this plan, which includes 2,300 layoffs and the closure of plasma collection centers in the US-, stands at 114 million euros in the half.
The company, which is chaired and directed by Thomas Glanzmann, explained that the restructuring has allowed it to recover profitability above even its own forecasts. Thus, Grifols' adjusted operating profit was 22.2% of revenues at the end of the semester, with a total of 665 million euros, driven by the higher margin in the second quarter, once the adjustments were made, which advanced to 23 ,4%. The group explained that it has already taken all the measures provided for in its restructuring plan, which will provide annualized cost savings of 450 million euros.
The improvement in the group's margins has been produced by an increase in plasma donations, of 12%, after the bump caused by the pandemic. The collection cost per liter decreased by 20% compared to the maximum it reached in July of last year, due to the changes it has made to its network of centers but also due to the reduction in the compensation it pays to donors.
The improvement in margins has allowed the company to reduce its leverage ratio, up to 6.9 times its Ebitda, with a total of 9,421 million euros of net financial debt. The group reiterated that it maintains the commitment to reduce it to 4.0 times its Ebitda by the end of 2024, due to the improvement of its operations and with divestment operations.
Thus, the group announced a few weeks ago that it is negotiating the sale of a relevant stake in its Chinese investee Shanghai RAAS, for which it expects to enter some 1,400 million euros. Financial sources point to China Resources Holding, a conglomerate of companies controlled by the Government of Beijing, as the group most interested in acquiring the company, in which Grifols would remain as a significant shareholder.
By business areas, Grifols explained that its growth continues to be driven by its Biopharma unit, which produces plasma proteins. Thus, its sales grew by 16.7%, to 2,698 million euros in the first, driven by strong demand for the main plasma proteins, especially immunoglobulin, and by a favorable combination of prices and product mix.
The Diagnostic area, for its part, earned 341 million euros in the first half, 3.7% more, and the Bio Supplies area grew 57.2%, to 83 million euros due to the integration of Access Biologicals.
The Catalan group also reviewed its financial forecasts for the coming months. Thus, Grifols announced to the CNMV that it expects its revenues for the year as a whole to increase by 10-12% and that its adjusted Ebitda operating profit (that is, not including the cost of its restructuring) will be 24%, not including its latest acquisition, the German company Biotest, which has a large portfolio of products under development but is currently less profitable. In this way, Grifols points out, the operating profit or adjusted ebitda of the group will close the year between 1,400 and 1,450 million euros.
