Healthcare services group Uniphar has reported higher revenues and profits for 2021 with all of its divisions achieving gross profit growth in line with or ahead of its guidance.
Revenues for the year to the end of December rose by 6.5% to €1.943 billion from €1.824 billion in 2020.
Its profit before tax - excluding exceptional items - increased by 31.5% to €50.4m from €38.36m in 2020.
It reported strong organic gross profit growth across all trading divisions, with its Supply Chain & Retail division delivering 5.8% growth, its Commercial & Clinical delivering 7.9% and Product Access delivering 19.9%.
Uniphar said that during the year it continued to deliver the supply of medicines, medical devices and related services to the healthcare sector during an evolving Covid-19 landscape.
During the year, the group announced five "strategic and earnings accretive acquisitions", with the acquisition of the Navi Group subject to approval by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
Ger Rabbette, Uniphar's group chief executive, said the group performed strongly throughout 2021 delivering EBITDA growth of 29.6%.
"We were pleased to announce five earnings accretive acquisitions during the period with M&A activity occurring across each of our divisions," he said.
"Three acquisitions were completed in Commercial & Clinical; CoRRect Medical accelerates our entry into the German market, while BESTMSLs Group and E4H broadens our service offering and adds to our differentiated omni-channel approach to commercialisation," the CEO said.
"In Product Access, Devonshire Healthcare Services will enable us to expand our unlicensed medicines business in the MENA region and will, in time, assist in the delivery of Expanded Access Programs globally," he said.
"The acquisition of Navi Group, which is subject to approval by the CCPC, will provide unique technology platforms that we can leverage throughout our Supply Chain & Retail division to deliver an even stronger offering to our valued independent community pharmacy customer base," he added.
Mr Rabbette said the company will continue to apply a disciplined approach to capital deployment both organically and through M&A where such investment accelerates its strategic plans and delivers a Return on Capital Employed within or above its targeted range of 12% - 15% within three years.
"We are confident of delivering on expectations throughout 2022 and beyond and remain firmly on track to achieve our strategic objective of doubling 2018 proforma EBITDA within five years of IPO," he added.
Uniphar shares were higher in Dublin trade today.
