Aspen and SEMDSA earlier today raised awareness around the alarming rise of non-communicable diseases, particularly diabetes, in recognition of World Diabetes Day.
Aspen’s Stephen Saad and Sean Capazorio will take part in Investec’s CEO conference in London from 14 to 15 November 2024.
Aspen has contributed towards the funding of a new mobile cancer screening clinic for rural and peri-urban disadvantaged communities.
JSE-listed Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited (APN), a global multinational specialty pharmaceutical company, has reported solid Group financial results for the year ended 30 June 2024.
Durban – JSE Limited listed Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited (“Aspen”), a global specialty and branded pharmaceutical company, is celebrating its 14th consecutive year of Group-wide participation in Mandela Day. Stephen Saad, Aspen Group Chief Executive said, “ Aspen has a track record of improving access to healthcare to all patients but more particularly the most vulnerable among us. This spirit of care extends beyond healthcare to many socio-economic development (“SED”) initiatives. We have so many challenges to address, that it can seem overwhelming. However, with one step at a time, we can move forward. Today, we celebrate serving more than 910 000 individuals through projects across more than 40 countries, and I honour our employees who are at the very heart of making a difference and who are the heroes of our Mandela Day programme. With every 10th person in the world impacted by poverty[1], we recognise that every effort, no matter how big or small, offers a promise of hope to those in need.” “We remain committed to an unwavering humanitarian spirit and actions that demonstrate generosity, humility and care and encourage others to join us and help make a difference to the most vulnerable among us,” added Saad. Aspen’s Mandela Day programme, recognised as the Group’s flagship SED campaign, was initiated in 2011 and has focused on partnering with worthy beneficiaries across the six continents where Aspen has a business presence. The programme has assisted in providing relief to abandoned, neglected, orphaned or abused babies, children and women; the elderly, hungry and homeless; individuals inflicted with mental wellness challenges; students who strive to achieve academically; those who are disabled; victims of political conflict; residents at social rehabilitation institutions; healthcare facility patients who need support and equipment; environmental and climate challenges; and inequality, among others. [1] https://ourworldindata.org/poverty
Johannesburg, South Africa – Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited (“Aspen”), a global multinational specialty pharmaceutical company, has presented a state-of-the-art high performance wheelchair to South African wheelchair tennis star Donald Ramphadi. Ramphadi, a French-open double quads champion and a prominent figure in wheelchair tennis, reached his maiden Grand Slam final at the Australian Open Wheelchair Championships in January 2024. He is undeterred by his impaired mobility and his fourth place single quads ranking by the International Tennis Federation is testament to his talent. On the occasion of the presentation, Stavros Nicolaou, Aspen Senior Executive Strategic Trade said, “Aspen is honoured to support Donald Ramphadi ahead of his 2024 season when he takes to international courts to defend his title at the Paris Paralympics in France, among many others. We also laud Donald for his nomination in the 2024 South African Sports Awards’ Sportsman of the Year with a Disability category. In recent years we recognized Donald’s exceptional athletic talent, his unwavering dedication to wheelchair tennis and his dreams of bringing back gold for South Africa. Aspen subsequently facilitated the customisation and provision of a state-of-the-art high performance wheelchair tailored to his unique requirements to assist him in reaching his athletic goals. This action endorses Aspen’s commitment to inclusivity, accessibility, and the empowerment of athletes with disabilities. It is also aligned to our philosophy of embracing sports, arts and culture as powerful unifiers to promote healthy lifestyles and reduce the disease burden on our healthcare system.” An overjoyed Donald Ramphadi said, “I am so grateful for this generous donation from Aspen which is a major boost ahead of the 2024 Paris Paralympics in France. I’ve previously played in matches where I’ve had to retire my lead because of my wheelchair which naturally shattered many dreams. I’m excited about this wheelchair and I’m more determined than ever to up my game and take everything that I can in the upcoming tournaments that I compete in.”
Johannesburg, South Africa – Aspen Pharmacare, Africa’s largest pharmaceutical company, has announced continued humanitarian support to Ukraine, confirming further donations of critical care products to treat hospitalized patients who have been impacted by the ongoing conflict in that country. Stavros Nicolaou, Aspen Group Senior Executive Strategic Trade, said, “Aspen is highly sensitised to the human suffering that war and conflict brings and which has had a devastating impact on innocent civilians. We are pleased to announce that we are further extending our support to Ukrainian victims of the present-day conflict with much needed pharmaceutical products and we are in the process of despatching additional supplies of Fraxiparine (for emergency surgeries) and Alkeran (for cancer) to treat patients in Ukrainian hospitals. We remain committed to providing ongoing humanitarian relief to victims of both natural and manmade disasters as may be necessary.” Aspen recently hosted His Excellency, former President of the Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko during an official visit to South Africa. On this occasion he said, “I am deeply grateful to Aspen for the invaluable humanitarian support provided to the people of Ukraine at this very tragic time. Aspen has helped countless Ukrainians with generous donations of life-saving critical care medicines. Aspen’s ongoing support reaffirms their understanding of the horrors of war, and demonstrates their unwavering care for innocent patients who are in desperate need of pharmaceutical products. I thank Aspen for their contributions to date as well as their commitment to providing more products to treat our patients.” One of the more important initiatives in this humanitarian collaboration with Her Excellency Ambassador and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to South Africa, Liubov Abravoitova, concerns donations of Alkeran primarily used for the treatment of paediatric cancer patients at the Odessa Filatov Institute of Ophthalmology. She said, “We thank Aspen for its solidarity with Ukrainian people and support to Ukraine with donations of life-saving medicines, as well as for its cooperation with the Embassy of Ukraine in South African in humanitarian projects.” Aspen’s latest Alkeran donation has been expedited specifically to assist in the treatment of a six year old patient who is at risk of losing her only eye. In March 2022 Aspen dontated life-saving medicines for 62 000 surgeries in Ukraine and also helped to evacuate South African medical students who were stranded in war-torn Ukraine.
Johannesburg – JSE-listed Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited (APN), a global multinational specialty pharmaceutical company, has reported solid unaudited interim Group financial results for the six months ended 31 December 2023. SALIENT HIGHLIGHTS Revenue increased by 10% (2% in constant exchange rate (“CER”)) to R21,1 billion (December 2022: R19,2 billion) Normalised EBITDA increased by 2% (-5% in CER) to R5,2 billion (December 2022: R5,1 billion) Normalised headline earnings per share increased by 1% (-5% in CER) to 688,3 cents (December 2022: 679,6 cents) Headline earnings per share decreased by 6% (-12% in CER) to 620,7 cents (December 2022: 660,6 cents) Earnings per share decreased by 13% (-18% in CER) to 520,8 cents (December 2022: 602,0 cents) Operating cash flow per share increased by 44% to 553,2 cents (December 2022: 384,3 cents) Stephen Saad, Aspen Group Chief Executive said, “Great progress has been made in delivering on our ambitious strategy to lay the foundation for strong growth. We have successfully completed the necessary steps to reach the commercialisation stage for the manufacture of mRNA platform products which will augment revenue in H2 2024. Notable financial highlights include a 10% increase in revenue and a 44% increase in operating cash flow per share. The transition to new toll manufacturing agreements for the Heparin business is expected to reduce inventory investment by R3 billion by the end of the financial year. Organic growth complemented by acquisitions is set to drive Commercial Pharmaceuticals’ revenue in H2 2024 up by some R1 billion over H2 2023. We are also pleased to report that our recently announced acquisition of products in China, which remain subject to Competition Authority approval, will mitigate the negative volume-based procurement impact from FY2025.” Noteworthy achievements in this half include, inter alia, the following: Sterile manufacturing contract for mRNA filling reaches commercialisation stage Successful completion of the required trial and validation batches has resulted in the fulfillment of the suspensive conditions to the previously disclosed agreement for the manufacture of mRNA platform products. The commercialisation of this opportunity will benefit revenue and contribution in the last quarter of H2 2024. The impact of the volume ramp up and its annualisation will be materially higher from FY2025 onwards. Heparin business transitions to a toll manufacturing model Manufacturing agreements for the supply of heparin-based syringes are transitioning to a toll contract manufacturing arrangement. The heparin active pharmaceutical ingredient (“API”) will now be owned by the customers. This will reduce Aspen’s investment in heparin inventory and increase operating cash flows in both FY2024 and FY2025. In H1 2024, Aspen’s investment in heparin inventory reduced by R1 billion with a further R2 billion reduction anticipated by the end of June 2024. China volume-based procurement (“VBP”) mitigation strategy well on track Aspen announced that it had concluded agreements with Sandoz AG (“Sandoz”), including acquiring the Sandoz business in China. The net upfront consideration is EUR27.9 million followed by potential net milestone payments of EUR9.2 million. Approval for the transaction from the Competition Authority in China is anticipated in May 2024. The transaction will materially mitigate the negative impact of VBP on Aspen’s existing business in China on an annualised basis from FY2025. Commercial Pharmaceuticals portfolio enhancement strategy set to drive strong growth in H2 2024 revenue H2 2024 will be boosted by the distribution and promotion agreement with Lilly for sub–Saharan Africa and the product purchase agreement with Viatris for Latin America. The agreement with Lilly is effective from January 2024. Subsequent years will benefit from the launch of key pipeline products including Lilly’s Tirzepatide, marketed globally as Mounjaro®. Viagra, Lipitor, Norvasc, Lyrica and Celebrex are key brands included in the product portfolio acquired for Latin America. GROUP HIGHLIGHTS /*! elementor – v3.15.0 – 20-08-2023 */ .elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=”.svg”]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block} 1The Group assesses its operational performance using constant exchange rate (“CER”). The table above compares performance to the prior comparable period at reported exchange rates and at CER. 2 The CER % change is based upon the performance for the six months ended 31 December 2022 recalculated using the average exchange rates for six months ended 31 December 2023. 3Operating profit before depreciation and amortisation adjusted for specific non-trading items as defined in the Group’s accounting policy. 4 Normalised headline earnings per share (“NHEPS”) represents headlines earnings per share (“HEPS”) adjusted for specific non-trading items as defined in the Group’s accounting policy. GROUP PERFORMANCE The Group has exceeded its guided performance growing normalised EBITDA ahead of H1 2023 and overcoming the negative impact of VBP in China as well as the loss of grant funding which benefitted the prior period. Group revenue for the six months ended 31 December 2023 grew 10% (2% CER) to R21 141 million, with Commercial Pharmaceuticals revenue up 3% (-3% CER) and Manufacturing revenue increasing by 33% (17% CER). Group gross profit grew 4% (-3% CER) muted by an increased Manufacturing sales mix. Normalised EBITDA rose 2% (-5% CER) to R5 194 million. Elevated transaction costs primarily relating to acquisitions, together with increased intangible asset impairments due to the VBP impact in China, resulted in operating profit declining. Normalised net financing costs of R566 million were 3% (-10% CER) lower than the prior year. Increased net interest costs, fueled by higher rates, were more than offset by lower foreign exchange losses resulting from reduced volatility in emerging market currencies relative to the Euro. NHEPS advanced 1% (-5% CER) aided by the lower net financing costs. Financing costs in H2 2024 will continue to be influenced by the interest rate cycle and emerging market foreign currency volatility. HEPS declined by 6% (-12% CER) and earnings per share ended 13% lower (-18% CER) affected by the higher transaction costs and intangible asset impairments respectively. SEGMENTAL PERFORMANCE Commercial Pharmaceuticals Aspen has revised and refined its reportable segments to align to the Group’s Commercial Pharmaceuticals growth strategy. The new segments comprise Prescription, Over-the-counter (“OTC”) and Injectables which have been defined in the basis of accounting section of the financial results. Commercial Pharmaceuticals revenue grew by 3%
Shauneen Beukes
Group Communications Consultant
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sbeukes@aspenpharma.com
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