Deputy CEO Richter: the company expects improved results in the last quarter

Unlike usual, the quarterly results were evaluated by Gábor Orbán’s deputy, as the Richter CEO is a member of the delegation traveling with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to Washington on Thursday.

He highlighted that exchange rate changes and tax effects worsened the result by HUF 30 billion in January-September, which was offset by the decrease in operating costs, which is due to the previously launched efficiency improvement program.

Richter expects that exchange rates may develop more favorably in the fourth quarter and the following period compared to the third quarter.

He also reported that despite the record dividend payment of 93 billion forints, free cash flow rose to an unprecedented level, over 200 billion forints, by the end of September.

Richter reported growing sales in its largest markets: in North America, sales revenue increased from 184.1 billion forints to 200.8 billion forints (+9.1 percent). In Western Europe, turnover increased from 114.7 to 128.9 billion forints (+12.4 percent), while in Eastern Europe it increased from 130.1 to 135.2 billion forints (+3.9 percent).

Speaking about the individual segments, he said that the neuropsychiatric business unit provided outstanding performance, with adjusted EBIT increasing by 16 percent.

The gynecology business achieved double-digit revenue growth in the first nine months, with the key brands showing excellent performance, thus achieving the goal of reaching EUR 1 billion in revenue by 2030.

The revenue of the neuropsychiatric business, excluding the sale of Vrayler, decreased in the first nine months, which can be explained by one-off effects and a decline in partner sales, but this may be reversed by the end of the year, he noted.

The revenue of the generic drugs business is the combined effect of several negative factors – a high base and supply problems fell by 17 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, while end-user market sales were positive, which may be favorable for future revenue – said László Kovács.

In the biotechnology business, technological difficulties due to capacity expansion caused a slowdown, but this effect may decrease in the last quarter – he said.

After major developments in the business in the past period, certain products, such as the denosumab biosimilar, which has received marketing authorization from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), can now be launched on the market.

In total, Richter will launch 4 products and 3 biosimilar molecules in the next 12 months, he noted.