Sartorius reported a “rapid normalization of demand” after two years of unprecedented expansion related to the pandemic combined with the disruption of the chain.
During the first nine months of 2022, Sartorius generated a profit of 3110 million euros ($3050 million) across its entire activity, 23. 2% more than at the same time last year. The majority, €2470 million, came from its bioprocess solutions business by 24. 3%, order intake during the era fell by 10. 3% year-on-year to €2450 million.
“The progression of the bioprocess business was characterized by a significant expansion of earnings and, at the same time, as expected, an immediate normalization of the call after two years influenced by strong special effects due to the pandemic,” CEO Joachim Kreuzburg said in a statement.
CFO Rainer Lehmann added more color to the drop in order entry: “To put things in context last year, right now, we really reported a 72% increase in order entry, and the year before, in 2020, 37 [%]. “
Normally, a drop in order entry, or a decrease in the relationship between orders and invoices, is a sign of a complicated year ahead, but CEO Joachim Kreuzburg is confident to investors that this decline in order intake “reflects more the progression of the business in the past, being then a smart indicator of long-term activity.
This is due, of course, to the COVID-19 pandemic, he continued, which for two years has produced unprecedented demand for biomanufacturing facilities for immediate, large-scale production of vaccines and therapeutics.
“It’s a matter of natural logic, [that orders will be reduced] after this very significant over-amplification of demand, due to longer lead times and visitor and project policies to increase their stock titles,” he said. “Since the start of 2020, longer lead times have led to earlier orders, and the preference to accumulate equity securities has been a momentary stimulus, and we are now seeing the opposite. “
While adding that uncertainties persist, he reported that COVID, the underlying trend of the market is an expansion rate of around 10%, which is in line with the momentum of the bioprocess area ahead of 2020.
Kreuzburg added that the conversion nature of pipelines would continue with low double-digit growth and told stakeholders that “after a few decades where everything in the biopharmaceutical industry revolved around monoclonal antibodies, we are now seeing an increasing relevance of new modalities, mobile therapies, gene therapies, products and mRNA-based therapies.
Categories: BioProcess Insider, Upstream and Downstream Processing