Spain’s Almiral expects core earnings to decline in 2023

By Joan Faus

BARCELONA (Reuters) – Spanish pharmaceutical firm Almiral on Monday forecast a decline in core earnings this year after a 15.8% decline in 2022 due to increased investment in research and development as well as lower sales in the United States.

The company also said that interim chief executive and board chair Carlos Gallardo, grandson of the company’s founder, will remain as CEO on a permanent basis.

It reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of 198.3 million euros ($212.2 million) for 2022, down from 235.6 million euros in 2021. It was within the target of 190-210 million euros for 2022.

The Barcelona-based company, the dermatologist, expects EBITDA to fall to 165-180 million euros this year, it said in a statement without elaborating on the reasons.

It booked a net profit of 4.3 million euros in 2022 after a net loss of 40.9 million euros in 2021, which it said was largely due to the write-down of a drug name.

Total revenue reached 878.5 million euros, 5% more than in 2021. Its dermatology sales rose 11.1%, led by Europe, where they grew 18.4%, but fell 19.3% in the United States, where the company faced increased competition from generic drugs.

Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected revenue of 28.30 million euros and 859 million euros in 2022.

Gallardo became interim CEO in November after Almiral, who joined in May 2021, unexpectedly announced the resignation of its then-CEO Gianfranco Nazzi.

“Almiral’s board of directors assesses very positively the evolution, performance and momentum towards the company’s core priorities in recent months,” it said in a statement.

Gallardo succeeded his father Jorge as chairman in May 2022.

($1 = 0.9357 Euro)

(Reporting by Joan Fauss; Editing by Inti Landaurow and Mark Potter)