Announcement no. 9/2018 - Full-year Financial Results 2017/18

2017/18
Announcement of full-year financial results 2017/18
(01 October 2017 - 30 September 2018)      

Highlights

• Lars Rasmussen steps down as CEO of Coloplast A/S. The Board of Directors appoints Kristian Villumsen as new CEO of Coloplast A/S.
• Q4 organic growth was 8%, while revenue in DKK increased by 6% to DKK 4,234m. Full-year organic growth was also at 8%, while full-year revenue in DKK increased by 6% to DKK 16,449m. Currency developments reduced revenue by 4% for the full year and by 3% in the fourth quarter.
• Full-year organic growth rates by business area: Ostomy Care 9%, Continence Care 8%, Interventional Urology 10% and Wound & Skin Care 3%. Price pressure of up to 1% detracted from the full-year growth performance, driven in particular by the comprehensive healthcare reform implemented in Greece which has impacted all business areas.
• Chronic care continued the positive performance in the fourth quarter, as new products such as SenSura® Mio Convex and SpeediCath® Flex continued to drive performance. SenSura® Mio Concave has now been launched and is eligible for reimbursement in ten countries. The launch continues to go well, and Coloplast’s new product segment has been well received in the market. 2018/19 will be another launch year and in Q1 Coloplast will launch the new SenSura® Mio Baby & Kids portfolio, setting a new standard for paediatric ostomy care products.
• The Interventional Urology business delivered 10% organic growth in the fourth quarter driven by the sales and marketing investments made in the US. The Wound Care business retained its good momentum in the fourth quarter, outperforming market growth and reporting 6% organic growth driven by China and Europe.
• As a consequence of the ambition to accelerate organic growth during the period to 2019/2020, incremental investments of up to 2% of revenue were made at the beginning of the financial year into innovation as well as sales and marketing initiatives.
• Full-year EBIT amounted to DKK 5,091m, a 1% increase in DKK, corresponding to an EBIT margin of 31%, compared to 32% in 2016/17. However, at constant exchange rates and adjusted for the one-off revenue adjustment relating to Veterans Affairs last year, EBIT was up by 4%, equal to an EBIT margin of 31% against 33% last year. Restructuring costs of about DKK 50m were incurred in the full-year reporting period in relation to the reduction of production staff in Denmark.
• Full-year ROIC after tax before special items was 44%.
• The Board of Directors recommends that the shareholders attending the general meeting to be held on 5 December 2018 approve a year-end dividend of DKK 11.00 per share. This brings the dividend paid for the year to DKK 16.00 per share, as compared with DKK 15.00 per share last year.

Financial guidance for 2018/19

• We expect organic revenue growth of ~8% at constant exchange rates. Reported growth in DKK is guidance at 8-9%.
• We expect an EBIT margin of 30-31% at constant exchange rates and a reported EBIT margin of ~31% in DKK. The EBIT margin guidance reflects additional incremental investments of up to 2% of revenue for innovation and sales and marketing purposes.
• Capital expenditure is expected to be DKK ~750m, and the effective tax rate is expected to be about 23%.

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