(AFP / PHILIPPE LOPEZ)
The supplier of materials for the biopharmaceutical sector Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB) saw its profitability weighed down in 2023 by weak post-Covid demand, but expects activity to recover this year.
Its net profit fell by more than 64% to 310 million euros last year for a turnover down 20.5%, affected by “weak demand, which lasted longer than expected after the pandemic,” the company said in a statement.
This situation is explained by “relatively low production levels”, “the almost total shutdown with Russian customers and generally low investments by customers, mainly in China and the United States”, underlines the subsidiary of the German Sartorius.
Building on a slight recovery in demand since the end of the third quarter of 2023, Sartorius Stedim Biotech, however, plans to “return to profitable growth in 2024 and beyond”.
The company specifies that it expects “activity to increase gradually throughout the year, which will result in moderate results in the first half of 2024”.
By 2028, the group is targeting average annual growth in turnover of between 10 and 15%, as well as a gross operating surplus margin, an indicator of profitability, increasing by more than 35%.