12 March 2020 - Deborah Wilkes
Acquiring the Mederma skincare brand helped HRA Pharma increase its worldwide sales by 21% to EUR254 million (USD279 million) in 2019.
Excluding the impact of acquiring Mederma in June 2019, the French company's sales were up by 14% on an organic basis.
HRA Pharma highlighted a “strong performance” by its Compeed blister-care brand and 15% sales growth by its ellaOne (ulipristal acetate) emergency contraceptive.
The company said its Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) had increased by 30% compared to 2018. The EBITDA margin was 29.6%.
Chief executive officer David Wright commented that HRA Pharma had recorded “considerable revenue growth” and a “consistently high EBITDA margin”.
Wright added that the figures justified HRA Pharma’s strategic decision to focus on building its category-leading brands and geographically expanding in key countries such as the US and China as well as key regions including the Middle East and Asia.
Stepping up Chinese presence
HRA Pharma recently announced that it was stepping up its presence in China through a new subsidiary in Shanghai and a joint venture with specialty healthcare company Profex (click here to read the News story).
The joint venture – called HRA Pharma China – will market, distribute and sell the French company’s consumer healthcare products in China and Hong Kong.
HRA Pharma said the joint venture would focus on its Compeed blister-care brand and “other future high potential brands”.
The news came soon after HRA Pharma announced it was expanding into the Middle East with Compeed (click here to read the News story).
HRA has also just expanded into South Africa with Compeed, with Brands2Africa as the distributor.
Ambitious growth strategy
Privately-held HRA Pharma wants to be “one of the fastest-growing global consumer healthcare companies”. It aims to more than double in size by 2022 through a “combination of swift switching, new products, geographic expansion and smart acquisitions”.
The company currently has a direct operational presence in 11 European countries and the US, with partnerships taking its products into more than 90 countries worldwide.
HRA Pharma announced in April 2019 that it was acquiring global rights to the Mederma skincare brand from Merz Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed sum. The deal also included the Eldertonic and Nu-Iron vitamins, minerals and supplements (VMS) brands (click here to read the News story).
In July 2017, the company announced that it was acquiring global rights to Compeed from Johnson & Johnson for an undisclosed sum (click here to read the News story).