Detail
15.03.03

2002 results

 

  • Sales: +18%
  • Net income increases twofold: 6.3% of sales
  • Net debt down sharply: -40%

The Board of Directors' meeting of 18 March 2002 chaired by Albert Saporta issued the financial statements for the year 2002.

 

€ million

2002

  % sales

2001

% sales

2002/ 2001

Sales

74.9

100.0

63.3

    100.0

+ 18%

Cost of goods sold

(23.5)

31.4

     (20.6)

      32.6

+14%

Gross margin

51.4

68.6

42.7

      67.4

+ 20%

Other operating expenses

(34.4)

45.9

     (29.7)

      46.9

+ 16%

Net margin

17.0

22.7

13.0

      20.5

+ 23%

Research & Development

(5.8)

7.8

       (5.1)

        8.1

+ 13%

Operating profit

11.2

15.0

7.9

      12.4

+ 43%

Net income before goodwill amortisation

5.3

7.1

3.3

        5.2

+61%

Net profit

4.7

6.3

2.4

        3.8

+96%



2002 results

Stallergènes sales posted a strong increase in 2002, advancing 18% (vs. 15% in 2001).  The reorganization of its sales operations contributed to the rapid deployment in Europe of the new presentation of the sublingual product, Staloral 300®, which registered a 75% increase in volume in 2002.  All Group markets contributed to this performance:

  • In France, a sharp increase (+25%) reflected the success of Staloral 300® among doctors and patients as treatment was more effectively administered;
  • In Germany, year 2002 saw a return to strong growth (+13%), following a stable performance (+1%) in 2001.  The strategy focusing on the segment of specialist physicians has proven effective;
  • In Italy (+14%) and Spain (+16%), Staloral 300® has become the treatment of reference in this highly competitive sublingual immunotherapy markets;
  • In other countries (+15%), advances were achieved principally in Eastern Europe while sales in North Africa remained stable.

 

The gross margin improved 1.2 points to 68.6% of sales following further productivity gains.

Operating profit (+43%) gained 2.6 points as a percentage of sales to 15% despite Group efforts in R&D, communication and promotion to support future growth.

Net profit surged 96% to €4.7 million (net margin: 6.3%).

This positive operating performance contributed to a €10 million reduction in net debt, sharply reducing the debt-to-equity ratio from 90% to less than 50%.

 

Dividend

At  the Shareholders' Meeting of 18 June of this year, the Board of Directors will propose a dividend of €0.62 (not including the dividend tax credit), a nearly twofold increase over the previous year.

 

Outlook

The Group forecasts double-digit growth in 2003 and plans investments destined to actively support rapid expansion in its market in the years ahead.