Pretax profits at Uniphar climb nearly 10% despite ‘inflationary pressures’

Pretax profits at Irish-listed healthcare group Uniphar jumped almost 10 per cent in the first six months of 2022 compared with the same period last year despite “continued macroeconomic uncertainty and inflationary pressures”, the group said on Tuesday.

In a first half trading update, Uniphar said turnover climbed 2.8 per cent over the period to almost €992 million. The group generated profits of €26 million before tax, up 9.9 per cent on the first half of 2021.

Listed in Dublin, the group is a multifaceted international business that provides integrated services to more than 200 multinational pharmaceutical and medical technology manufacturers. It also has a substantial presence in the Irish retail pharmacy sector, accounting for more than one-fifth of the market.

Uniphar said on Tuesday that its supply chain and retail division had “once again” outperformed medium term guidance, delivering organic growth of 5.2 per cent with sales topping €65.7 million in the first half of 2022, up 8.2 per cent on the first six months of last year.

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Its commercial and clinical division, meanwhile, “delivered gross profit growth of 9.5 per cent off a very strong comparative period in 2021″, the company said, crediting the “diversity” of its medical technology portfolio for the division’s overall performance.

Uniphar said it had also recently marked its entry into the Asia-Pacific (APAC) market after completing the acquisition of Australia-headquartered Orspec Pharma. The company, which also has hubs in Singapore and New Zealand, “specialises in the supply of unlicensed medicines and the delivery of expanded access programs across the region”, Uniphar said.

Uniphar group chief executive Ger Rabbette said the acquisition “will support our goal of becoming a global leader in product access services”.

Overall, he said the group had “performed strongly” during the period. “Each division has delivered organic gross profit growth, underpinned by a strong team performance across the board, with an outperformance in supply chain and retail,” Mr Rabbette said.

“The group has leveraged its scale and diverse service offering to help mitigate inflationary pressures which continue to be a challenge across the globe ... We remain confident and are on track to achieve our strategic objective of doubling 2018 pro forma EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation] within five years of IPO.”