EQL Pharma Year-end Report April 2020 - March 2021

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Sales growth of 37% during the fourth quarter

The fourth quarter of 2020/21 was another strong growth quarter for EQL Pharma in terms of sales. Sales for the quarter amounted to SEK 25.8 million, an increase of 37%. In total, we grew by 33% during the financial year, adjusted for non-recurring sales.

Operating profit EBIT amounted to SEK -5.9 (3.2) million for the fourth quarter of 2020/21. The negative operating profit was driven by a number of non-recurring items totalling SEK 6.7 million. The main non-recurring items are linked to the listing on the NASDAQ main market (1.4) and a reservation for destruction of goods in the coming financial year (3.3). The destruction of goods that the company anticipates concerns products whose sales have been negatively affected by the Corona pandemic (especially antibiotics) and therefore the shelf life will expire. The company chooses to write down the value of this inventory in Q4.

During the quarter, the drug Mellozzan (melatonin) was approved for sale in Sweden by the Medical Products Agency. The product has large potential, and we are currently waiting for a decision on reimbursement that can come at the earliest in mid-May.

During the month of March, we in-licensed seven products for the Danish market, five of which are exclusive licenses. Most products have a distinct niche character and will be included in our sales from the first quarter of 2021/22. In total, we are thus approaching 60 products that have either been launched, 22, or are under development, 36.

Our CFO and appreciated employee Jennie Sterning has after 14 years in the company chosen to leave her job and has her last working days in mid-July. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jennie for her outstanding and important efforts during all these years, we will miss you. Emanuel Eriksson has been appointed as the new CFO. Emanuel has a master's degree in economics with a focus on Technology Management and has a background from retail banking as a company manager and acquisition financing (M&A).

After the end of the quarter, we revised our schedule for the planned list change to Nasdaq Stockholm's main list. In this context, it should be pointed out, for the management of EQL Pharma, the single most important priority is to execute on our long-term business plan, where we have set our goal on 40% yearly growth on average over the next five-year period. By consistently prioritizing this aggressive plan, aspects such as list selection will always be subordinate to our focus on executing our business.After the quarter, EQL Pharma launched Europe's first CE-marked SARS-CoV-2 self-test on the Swedish market. In Sweden, there are previously two non-CE marked antigen-based self-tests that have been granted a temporary exemption by the Swedish Medical Product Agency. The self-test will be available in selected pharmacy chains during the second half of May.

If we sum up the financial year 2020/21, it has been a very intense year. We have started of our European expansion, and we have greatly enlarged our product portfolio during the year. We are also proud to have been able to help healthcare with PPE equipment to combat the covid-19 pandemic and we see that this work will partly continue in 2021/22.

The five-year plan that ends with this year-end report has delivered an average growth of more than 35%, which is 5% more than our aggressive growth target for the period 2016 - 2020/21. With these figures, we belong to a very small and exclusive group of companies, and I want to thank my employees for this outstanding achievement.

January - March

  • Consolidated sales during the fourth quarter amounted to SEK till 25,8 (18,82) million, an increase of 37%.
  • Gross profit amounted to SEK 7,7 (8,2) million for the quarter, a decrease of 6%.
  • EBIT for the quarter was SEK -5,9 (0,3) million.
  • Earnings per share were SEK -0:21 (0:01) for the quarter.
  • Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 35,8 (3,9) million for the quarter.
  • Cash and cash equivalents were SEK 26,6 (10,3) million at the end of the quarter.

April - March

  • Consolidated sales during the period April 2020 – March 2021 amounted to SEK 179,1 (72,1) million, an increase of 149%. Adjusted for non-recurring sales the revenue amounted to 95,8 (72,1) MSEK, an increase of 33%.
  • Gross profit for the same period amounted to SEK 51,0 (7,7) million, an increase of 562%.
  • EBIT for April - December amounted to SEK 11,4 (3,2) million.
  • Earnings per share were SEK 0:36 (0:09) for the period.
  • Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 58,8 (6,7) million during April - March.
  • Cash and cash equivalents were SEK 26,6 (10,3) million at the end of March.



 

For further information, please contact:
Christer Fåhraeus
CEO, EQL Pharma AB (publ)

Phone: +46 (0) 705 – 60 90 00
E-mail: christer.fahraeus@eqlpharma.com
Website: www.eqlpharma.com

Eql Pharma AB (Publ) briefly
EQL Pharma AB specializes in developing and selling generics, ie pharmaceuticals that are medically equivalent to reference pharmaceuticals. The company currently has upwards of 20 niche generics (ie generics with limited competition apart from the reference pharmaceutical) approved in the Nordic markets. In addition to these, there is a significant pipeline of additional niche generics for launch in 2021 and beyond. The business is currently entirely focused on prescription pharmaceuticals, including hospital products, in the Nordic region and in selected European markets. EQL Pharma AB conducts its operations in Lund and is listed on the Spotlight Stock Market. EQL Pharma AB conducts extensive development work in collaboration with leading contract manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies in the EU and Asia, among others.