Powerful Q4 finish with exceptional Astrea performance
October – December
- Net sales amounted to
SEK 643 (384) million, an increase of 67.3 percent and an organic* decrease of 4.4 percent. - EBITDA amounted to
SEK 189 (69) million and the EBITDA margin amounted to 29.3 percent (17.9). - Adjusted EBITDA amounted to
SEK 194 (89) million and adjusted EBITDA margin amounted to 30.2 percent (23.1). - Operating profit amounted to
SEK 143 (41) million and the operating margin was 22.2 percent (10.8). - Profit after tax amounted to
SEK 131 (74) million. - Earnings per share were
SEK 1.64 (1.12) before and 1.64 (1.11) after dilution. - Cash flow from operating activities increased to
SEK 154 (99) million. - Adjusted cash flow from operating activities** increased to
SEK 186 (133) million. - Net cash* as of
December 31 wasSEK 335 (224) million.
January – December
- Net sales amounted to
SEK 1,862 (1,566) million, an increase of 18.9 percent and an organic* decrease of 10.2 percent. - EBITDA amounted to
SEK 463 (428) million and the EBITDA margin amounted to 24.9 percent (27.3). - Adjusted EBITDA amounted to
SEK 518 (464) million and adjusted EBITDA margin amounted to 27.8 percent (29.6). - Operating profit amounted to
SEK 314 (327) million and the operating margin was 16.9 percent (20.9). - Profit after tax amounted to
SEK 246 (268) million. - Earnings per share were
SEK 3.34 (4.06) before and 3.33 (4.04) after dilution. - Cash flow from operating activities decreased to
SEK 284 (341) million. - Adjusted cash flow from operating activities** increased to
SEK 435 (429) million. - On
June 1 ,Biotage completed the acquisition ofAstrea Group Holdings Company Ltd ("Astrea"), which was announced on15 February 2023 . As part of the transaction 13,954,103 ordinary shares were issued in June. - The Board of Directors intends to propose to the Annual General Meeting a dividend to the shareholders for 2023 of
SEK 1.60 (1.60) per share, corresponding to 48 (40) percent of Earnings per share.
Significant events after the end of the reporting period
- On
January 4 , it was announced thatTomas Blomqvist will leave his position as CEO andTorben Jørgensen will take over as interim CEO until a new CEO has been recruited.Kieran Murphy has been appointed Chairman of the Board whileTorben Jørgensen is CEO.
Message from the CEO
Transformational year delivering record revenue and adjusted profits
Our strategy of being the
In Q423 we delivered solid results; revenues at
For the full year, our results were robust; revenues at
We increased our gross margins in 2023 by just over 1 percentage point to 61.7%, with the existing business and Astrea Bioseparations broadly delivering the same margin percentages.
The results are all the more impressive given the current challenges in the market ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic unwind of inventories and higher interest rates impacting spending decisions, especially on equipment and the rapid deceleration of growth in
One of our key goals is to increase the level of recurring revenue, which we define as revenue from consumables and services. In Q423 our recurring revenue was 76% of total revenue. For the full year our recurring revenue was 67% of total revenue. Higher recurring revenues give us more predictability and less volatility in our results. This was driven by the acquisition of Astrea Bioseparations whose revenue is completely consumable based.
We finished Q4 strongly with growth in five out of our six product focus areas. Our Scale up business started to reverse some of the decline seen in earlier quarters and grew 32% in Q4 to
Excluding Astrea, our EMEA business had a very strong finish to Q4 delivering growth of 14.7%, which helped to offset a small decline in
An improved trading performance has also driven stronger cashflows and a more robust Balance Sheet. In Q423 adjusted cash generated from operations at
In 2023, we sharpened our focus on our long-term strategy, positioning ourselves as a global leader in separation technologies. The acquisition of the high-growth chromatography solutions provider, Astrea Bioseparations significantly enhances our capabilities to support the development and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals and advanced therapeutics.
Our employees supporting the small molecule segment have been working hard throughout the year, launching new products that strengthen Biotage’s position further in the global life science solutions landscape. In our commitment to enhancing customer efficiency with Biotage® Selekt family of flash purification systems, we introduced innovative solutions that facilitate advanced remote monitoring capabilities and real-time liquid level monitoring. Additionally, we introduced two new solutions integrated with Biotage® Extrahera™ sample preparation system, providing an automated and efficient cleanup process for peptides.
Finally, I would like to thank our employees, whose hard work, dedication, and inspiration have taken us to the powerful market position we have today. As a financially robust and highly respected company, we are ideally positioned to continue developing our business for even greater successes. I would like to thank each of them, as well as our customers, investors and all partners, for the trust they place in us. We look forward to the future with optimism and excitement.
Uppsala,
Torben Jörgensen
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