Shares in healthcare services group Uniphar jumped today after it reported higher revenues and profits for 2024 and said it expects continued strong organic gross profit growth across all divisions this year.
Reported revenues for the year to December rose by 8.5% to €2.770 billion from €2.553 billion in 2023, while reported profit before tax – excluding exceptional items – was up 14.6% to €61.13m from €53.32m.
Uniphar also said its operating profits for the year jumped by 21% to €81.989m from €67.708m.
It has proposed a total dividend for the year of €5.2m, up 5% on the previous year.
Headquartered in Dublin, Uniphar services over 200 multinational pharmaceutical and medical technology manufacturers across three divisions.
Its retail pharmacy business unit comprises 445 pharmacies that are owned, franchised or supported by the group and the business operates across four brands – Hickey’s, McCauley, Allcare and Life Pharmacy, which together form the largest pharmacy group in Ireland.
Ger Rabbette, Uniphar’s group chief executive, said that 2024 was an outstanding year for Uniphar with all its divisions contributing to strong organic gross profit growth of 8.2%.
“The results demonstrate the impact of our strategy on our ability to grow at pace organically. We are progressing well towards our target of delivering €200m EBITDA by 2028 and are confident that over 80% of that growth can now be delivered organically,” the CEO added.
Breaking down its divisions, the company said that revenues at Uniphar Medtech rose by 7.5% to €267.968m from €249.216m, while gross profit grew by 9.1% to €108.9m from €99.87m with growth delivered across all of its regions.
In particular, the division achieved strong growth in Germany, the UK and the Nordics last year. In the UK, the division also grew the number of specialities serviced from two to six in the year.
Meanwhile, revenues at Uniphar Pharma rose by 11.2% to €658.8, from €592.2m and operating profits were up almost 18% to €121.5m from €103.2m with growth in both the “On Demand” and “Pharma Services” business units.
Revenues at Uniphar Supply Chain & Retail were up 7.7% to €1.843 billion from €1.711 billion while gross profits rose by 5.5% to €197.13m from €186.9m.
The company said its multi-year investment in its new distribution facility and IT infrastructure in Dublin continues to progress to plan with the division substantially completing the fitout of the property during the year.
Uniphar shares moved higher in Dublin trade today.
