GRÜNWALD (dpa-AFX) - The pharmaceutical manufacturer Dermapharm continued to grow last year. However, the declining Covid vaccine business with Biontech weighed on the operating result. The outlook for 2024 is also rather subdued: Although the management led by Group CEO Hans-Georg Feldmeier expects sales to increase once again, earnings in the day-to-day business could rise or fall. On Thursday morning, shares listed on the small-cap index SDax fell by 0.6 percent on this news.

Thanks to vaccine production, Dermapharm shares had been among the winners on the stock market during the pandemic. However, the record of EUR 91.95 reached in January 2022 is now a long way off. A Dermapharm share currently costs less than 38 euros. So far this year alone, the share price has fallen by more than eleven percent.

This morning, the pharmaceutical manufacturer from Grünwald in Bavaria surprisingly published preliminary figures for the past year and an initial forecast for 2024. According to this, turnover is expected to rise to between 1.17 and 1.21 billion euros in the current reporting period, after the figure rose by 10.8 percent to just under 1.14 billion euros last year according to initial calculations.

However, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (adjusted EBITDA) fell by just under 14% to 310.2 million euros in the reporting period compared to the previous year due to the slowdown in the Covid tailwind. However, the company still performed at the upper end of its own targets and better than the market had feared.

This year, the Group is aiming for an operating result of 305 to 315 million euros on an adjusted basis. The average expectations of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were recently at 311.6 million euros - and thus in the upper half of the range stated by Dermapharm.

According to the company, 2023 was characterized by various macro-economic and geopolitical challenges. Dermapharm also felt the after-effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine in the form of price increases for energy and raw materials as well as irregularities in the supply chains.

At the same time, a previously lucrative source of income dried up as the coronavirus tailwind began to fade. Dermapharm had filled Covid vaccines for the Mainz-based manufacturer Biontech during the pandemic. After sales and earnings contributions in the first quarter of 2023, the remaining three quarters showed a downward trend. According to a spokesperson, production in this area is currently no longer running. The company does not expect "any contributions for 2024". However, Dermapharm continues to maintain capacities as part of pandemic preparedness programs.

In contrast, the company reportedly benefited above all from the good performance of its subsidiary Arkopharma, a specialist for herbal medicines acquired in January 2023. The first positive synergies from the acquisition of the French company were also reported. In addition, branded products for pain and inflammation, among other things, and in the fields of dermatology, gynecology and urology also performed well.

Dermapharm earned less than in the previous year in the business with so-called parallel imports. This is where the Group imports cheaper medicines from other European countries for sale in Germany. Since last year, however, health insurance companies have had to be granted higher price discounts. In addition, the Group reported that the availability of goods on the parallel import market had been reduced at times.

Dermapharm plans to present its final annual results on March 28. Meanwhile, the dividend for shareholders has been decided: it is to be reduced once again to EUR 0.88 from EUR 1.05 a year ago. For the strong year 2021, shareholders still received 2.17 euros./tav/mne/men