LES ULIS, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Key events in 2015:
- Launched a new generation plant financed by a €230 million capital increase, fully underwritten by the French State, currently the sole shareholder of LFB.
- Two new products registered in Europe
- Significant investment in R&D with €81.3 million* owing to several products currently in phase III trials
- Gross margin in decline as compared to 2014 due to the production of commercial batches for phase III products
- Turnover of €502.4 million, stable in comparison to 2014
Christian Béchon, Chief Executive Officer of L.F.B S.A. declared:
"In
2015, the key milestones have been successfully achieved. It has been a
historic and productive year for the future of LFB."
An unprecedented increase in capital in order to finance the group's
development
As part of the group's strategic development, LFB's
shareholder (the French State) decided in October to underwrite an
increase in LFB's share capital by €230 million. The share capital of
the company now stands at €280 million. To meet the financing needs of
LFB's development project, on 5 January 2016 LFB issued a senior bond of
€124 million. These funds will enable the construction of a 'new
generation' plant in Arras. This flagship project, representing an
investment of approximately €300 million, will enable LFB to triple its
global production capacity in 2020 with facilities aimed at
manufacturing for the whole world.
LFB is also developing its sites
in Alès (Gard) and Charlton (USA), establishing bio-production
facilities for recombinant medicines in development.
|
Consolidated earnings in €M |
2015 | 2014 | Variation 2015/2014 | |||
|
Turnover |
502.4 |
501.9 |
0.1 % |
|||
|
Gross margin |
177.6 |
195.5 |
-9.2 % |
|||
|
Research & development |
(81.3) |
(65.9) |
||||
|
Commercial costs |
(51.0) |
(48.6) |
||||
|
General costs |
(50.3) |
(48.7) |
||||
|
Other charges and |
17.0 |
(7.1) |
||||
|
Operational earnings |
12.0 |
25.2 |
||||
|
as a % of turnover |
2.4 % |
5.0 % |
||||
|
Net earnings |
0.3 |
13 |
€90.5 million* before research tax credit
2015 turnover - growth in international sales
At €502.4
million, turnover is relatively stable as compared to 2014. For the
second successive year, the group's turnover exceeded €500 million, with
the international side business continuing to grow. Despite a 3.2 %
decline in turnover in France during 2015, international sales rose by
€12.1 million (+8.7%), reaching €152 million. This figure represents 30%
of consolidated turnover (28% in 2014).
Operational earnings decline in order to finance strategy
Research
and development costs are increasing rapidly (€81.3 million), owing to
the large number of phase III trials in progress. Various strategic
projects reached significant milestones. In 2015, two new LFB products,
a 10% immunoglobulin and a fibrinogen have been subject to a mutual
recognition in procedure in Europe with the Paul Ehrlich Institute as
the referral agency. Two other recombinant products are currently at the
end of phase III. At the same time, LFB is planning to manufacture
product batches for launch, which has had an impact on earnings. In
2015, the group posted encouraging operational income (€17 million),
notably owing to its holding in the bio-tech company TG Therapeutics
Inc. The positive operational earnings (€12.0 million) is down as
compared to that of 2014 (-13.2 million) due to a decline in gross
margins and increased development costs. Despite this unprecedented
effort, net earnings remain positive at €0.3 million.
About LFB Group
LFB is a
bio-pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures, and markets
medicinal products from living systems for the treatment of serious and
often rare diseases in the fields of Immunology, Hemostasis, Perinatal,
and Intensive Care. Currently ranked 6th worldwide in the field of
plasma-derived medicinal products, LFB Group is also among the leading
European companies in the development and production of proteins and
innovative treatments derived from bio-technologies. It employs 2,111
staff worldwide.
http://www.groupe-lfb.fr
The original source-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the source-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.
