In This Article:
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Revenue: EUR3.4 billion, with a slight increase of 0.1% in constant currencies.
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Order Intake: Double-digit increase, particularly strong in consumables.
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Underlying EBITDA Margin: 28.0%, with EUR945 million in absolute terms.
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Regional Performance: EMEA growth of 5.5%, Americas impacted by temporary industry trends, Asia Pacific growth of 1.4%.
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Free Cash Flow: Doubled to EUR550 million from EUR271 million in the prior year.
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CapEx: Reduced to 12.1% of sales from 16.5% in the prior year.
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Net Debt: EUR3.746 billion, with a leverage ratio of 4.0.
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Bioprocess Solutions Sales: EUR2.7 billion, with recurring business showing mid-single-digit growth.
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Lab Products & Services Sales: Down 3% in constant currencies, with challenges in China.
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Net Operating Cash Flow: Increased by 9.2% to EUR850 million.
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CapEx for R&D and Infrastructure: EUR340 million, with a CapEx ratio of 12.2%.
Release Date: January 28, 2025
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
Positive Points
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Sartorius AG (SARTF) achieved its reverse guidance for 2024, with both top-line and profitability meeting expectations.
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The Bioprocess Solutions division saw a slight sales increase, driven by strong growth in the consumables business.
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Order intake for the group was double digits ahead of the prior year, indicating strong demand recovery.
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The company successfully implemented an efficiency program, saving over EUR 100 million and maintaining a robust EBITDA margin.
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Sartorius AG (SARTF) expects to outperform the market with moderate profitable growth in 2025, driven by fundamental growth drivers in the biopharma industry.
Negative Points
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Sales for the Lab Products & Services (LPS) division were slightly below the previous year's level, impacted by a soft market in China.
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The equipment business remained muted, with negative double-digit growth in 2024.
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Profitability was slightly below 2023 levels due to lower capacity utilization and inventory reduction efforts.
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The company remains cautious about the market outlook for 2025, expecting growth below midterm average rates.
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The financial results were impacted by increased depreciation and higher financial expenditures, leading to a lower underlying net profit compared to the prior year.
Q & A Highlights
Q: How did consumable orders develop in Q4, and do they reflect any catch-up from low inventory levels? A: Joachim Kreuzburg, CEO: The book-to-bill ratio for bioprocessing was close to 1.2 in Q4, with consumables above that. We don't have indications that customers ran their inventory levels too low, so we don't expect volatility from catch-up orders. Order levels were low in previous quarters, picking up slightly in Q3, and the year-on-year order growth has been encouraging.