Ambu delivers solid performance for Q1 2022/23. The company posts 4% organic revenue growth for the quarter and continues to progress its new ZOOM IN strategy and global transformation program. Financial guidance maintained for the fiscal year 2022/23, with organic revenue growth at 5-8% and EBIT margin before special items at 3-5%.
“In the first quarter of our fiscal year, we rolled out our ZOOM IN strategy across the organisation. The new strategy kicks off a transformation journey for Ambu, and we are progressing as planned with our transformation program, in support of our long-term financial aspirations. In a year of continued macro-economic uncertainty, I am pleased with the good momentum we have seen in many parts of our business. We posted strong revenue growth within urology and ENT, while our pulmonology business declined due to high comparables from Covid-19 last year, in line with expectations.
Across the business, our people are dedicated to supporting our customers and to making a difference for healthcare systems. With the challenges health systems currently face, such as staff shortages and constrained budgets, single-use solutions can help their situation, by improving workflow, increasing convenience and improving cost outcomes. I remain excited for the year – and for the meaningful opportunities that lie ahead of us as a company.”
Britt Meelby Jensen
Chief Executive Officer
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE QUARTER
Last year’s comparative figures are presented in brackets.
- Revenue for Q1 increased organically by 4% (-1%) to DKK 1,132m (DKK 1,031m). Reported growth for the quarter was 10% (2%).
- Revenue in North America increased organically by 9% (18%), while revenue in Europe decreased by 4% (-16%). Rest of World posted organic growth of 14% (0%).
- Endoscopy Solutions (formerly Visualization) revenue increased organically by 3% (-2%). In line with expectations, pulmonology declined 17%, due to high comparables from Covid-19 last year, while Endoscopy Solutions excluding pulmonology increased 47%, driven by strong growth in urology and ENT.
- Anaesthesia sales increased by 4% (-6%), while Patient Monitoring (formerly Patient Monitoring & Diagnostics) posted organic growth of 6% (7%). Both business areas were impacted positively by the post-Covid-19 recovery, as well as a continued reduction of backlog orders.
- Gross margin for the quarter was 58.5% (61.5%). The declining gross margin is driven by production costs, product mix and higher input costs.
- EBIT before special items for the quarter was DKK 68m (DKK 40m), with an EBIT margin before special items of 6.0% (3.9%). This is driven by revenue growth and impacts from the cost reduction program initiated in Q4 2021/22, partly offset by inflationary effects and overheads from the Mexico ramp-up. The impact of foreign exchange rates on the EBIT margin was approximately 1 percentage point.
- Free cash flow before acquisitions totalled DKK -174m (DKK -162m) for the quarter, including investments in innovation of DKK 51m (DKK 106m) and a reduction in payables of DKK 158m.
- The FY 2022/23 financial guidance stated on 15 November 2022 is maintained:
- Organic revenue growth: 5-8%
- EBIT margin before special items: 3-5%
OTHER BUSINESS-RELATED HIGHLIGHTS FOR Q1 AND THE PERIOD THEREAFTER
- In November 2022, Ambu obtained European regulatory clearance (CE mark) of Ambu® aView™ 2 Advance, a high quality, portable HD monitoring and processing unit. The next-generation system offers compatibility with Ambu’s fifth-generation bronchoscope, as well as Ambu’s current and future single-use endoscopes across clinical specialties.
- On 8 December 2022, Ambu announced that the company was one of the first medtech companies to achieve full compliance of all of its medical devices in line with the Medical Device Regulation (MDR) in Europe.
- On 8 December 2022, a new French study* was published in the urology journal European Urology Focus, showing the environmental superiority of Ambu’s single-use cystoscope to reusable endoscopes. Concretely, the study established a difference of 33% in the climate change category, in favour of the Ambu® aScope™ 4 Cysto.
- On 14 December 2022, at Ambu’s Annual General Meeting, two new members were elected to the Board of Directors. The new members are Shacey Petrovic, former President and CEO at Insulet Corporation, and Simon Hesse Hoffmann, professional investor and third generation in the family behind Ambu.
- In January 2023, Ambu obtained FDA regulatory clearance of the Ambu® aScope™ 5 Broncho HD Sampler Set, a next-generation closed-loop sampling solution that improves the bronchoscopy fluid sampling workflow and reduces the risk of sample contamination.
* Baboudjian, M., et al: “Life Cycle Assessment of Reusable and Disposable Cystoscopes: A Path to Greener Urological Procedures”, European Urology Focus, 8 December 2022
Q1 2022/23 CONFERENCE CALL
A conference call is scheduled for 7 February 2023, at 09:00-10:00 (CET). The conference is broadcast live via Ambu.com/webcastQ12023.
To ask questions in the Q&A session, please call one of the following numbers five minutes before the start of the conference and enter the following access code: 80974.
- Denmark: +45 78774197
- U.K.: +44 0-808-101-1183
- U.S.: +1 785-424-1739
Additional dial-in numbers can be found here.
After the conference, the presentation can be downloaded from Ambu.com/presentations.
CONTACT
Investors
Thomas Frederik Schmidt, Chief Financial Officer, tfsc@ambu.com, +45 2084 0500
Nicolai Thomsen, Director, Investor Relations & Strategic Finance, nith@ambu.com, +45 2620 8047
Media
Tine Bjørn Schmidt, Head of Corporate Communications, tisc@ambu.com, +45 2264 0697
Ambu A/S
Baltorpbakken 13
DK-2750 Ballerup, Denmark
Tel.: +45 7225 2000
CVR no.: 63 64 49 19
Ambu.com
ABOUT AMBU
Since 1937, Ambu has been rethinking solutions, together with healthcare professionals, to save lives and improve patient care. Today, millions of patients and healthcare professionals worldwide depend on the efficiency, safety and performance of our single-use endoscopy, anaesthesia and patient monitoring solutions. Headquartered near Copenhagen in Denmark, Ambu employs around 4,500 people in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit Ambu.com.
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