BAD HOMBURG (dpa-AFX) - The crisis-ridden health care group Fresenius continued to recover in the second quarter. The far-reaching restructuring also paid off. Germany's largest hospital operator made gains in its clinic business, and its Kabi subsidiary, which specializes in generic drugs and clinical nutrition, made progress, the DAX-listed company said Wednesday. "Fresenius Kabi and Fresenius Helios increased their sales more than expected," Chief Executive Officer Michael Sen said.
Dialysis provider Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) also came through the quarter far better than expected and is therefore no longer quite so pessimistic for the year. At Fresenius' biggest problem child, adjusted operating profit rose 41 percent to 401 million euros. FMC is closing dozens of dialysis clinics and cutting thousands of jobs as cost pressures from inflation ease.
Meanwhile, Fresenius is taking action to restructure the Austrian clinic services provider Vamed, writing off 332 million euros for discontinuing operations. The loss-making company is expected to turn around operationally this year.
Total Fresenius sales in the second quarter grew by three percent year-on-year to 10.4 billion euros. Although operating profit adjusted for special items fell by 5 percent to 956 million euros, experts had expected less. At the bottom line, profit shrank by 17 percent to 375 million euros.
After difficult Corona years and many profit warnings, Fresenius wants to get out of the permanent crisis. Processes are being optimized, the red pencil is being applied in sales and administration, and non-core activities are to be divested. From 2025, Fresenius wants to save around one billion euros a year. Under the new CEO Sen, Fresenius is concentrating on the hospital business and the Kabi subsidiary.
FMC in particular had slid into crisis in the past Corona years. High excess mortality of Corona patients, rising costs and a shortage of nurses hit FMC and triggered several profit warnings at the parent company. To prevent this from happening again, Fresenius no longer wants to include FMC fully in its balance sheet, but only report it as a financial investment - corresponding to Fresenius' stake of just over one-third.
Following a resolution of an Extraordinary General Meeting in July, FMC is to be converted from a limited partnership into a stock corporation. This will pave the way for the demerger of the two companies by the end of the year. A later sale of the shares up to a complete separation also remains possible. Sen also sees Vamed only as a financial investment. Rumors of a sale of both companies had been countered by Fresenius in the spring./als/DP/tav
