Gerresheimer kept up its revenue growth in the third quarter of financial year 2015 (December 1, 2014 to November 30, 2015). Revenues increased by 6.2% to EUR 344 million.
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On an organic basis – meaning adjusted for exchange rate effects, acquisitions and divestments – revenues grew by 3.1% compared with the prior-year quarter.
As announced, the glass plant in Millville, USA, was closed in the third quarter of 2015 and the entire US moulded glass production concentrated in Chicago Heights. After a furnace repair and enlargement together with infrastructure improvements, operations at the Chicago Heights plants resumed in September as planned.
Laboratory glassware revenues were up due to the strong development of the US-dollar vs. the euro year-over-year. On an organic basis, laboratory glassware revenues were slightly down.
The company generated adjusted EBITDA of EUR 68.0m in the third quarter of 2015, significantly outperforming the prior-year figure of EUR 62.1m. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 19.8% in the third quarter, above the 19.2% margin in the prior-year quarter.
All three divisions contributed to the favorable margin growth. Net income for the third quarter of 2015 totaled EUR 20.2m, EUR 0.4m higher than in the comparative prior-year quarter.
Adjusted net income stood at EUR 29.2m in the third quarter of 2015, compared with EUR 22.7m in the prior-year period. Adjusted earnings per share came to EUR 0.85 in the third quarter of 2015, versus EUR 0.67 a year earlier.
Operating cash flow performed favorably in the first nine months of financial year 2015, improving on the prior-year period by EUR 58.6m to EUR 104.5m.
Gerresheimer’s capital expenditure in the third quarter of 2015 was EUR 37.9m as against EUR 22.4m in the prior-year quarter. The lion’s share of capital expenditure was accounted for by glass primary packaging plants and related in the most part to the renewal and enlargement of the Chicago Heights plant.
Alongside this, there was further capital expenditure on vial and cartridge machinery. Production capacity expansion for medical plastic systems, such as inhalers, also continued in the Czech Republic and the USA.
On July 27, 2015, Gerresheimer signed the agreement for the acqui¬sition of Centor, USA.
The transaction was completed as of September 1, 2015. Centor, which in 2014 generated (pro forma) revenues of $167m and employed 220 people, is the market leader in plastic packaging for oral prescription medication in the US end consumer market.
The $725m debt-free purchase price was financed in its entirety out of borrowing. ■