German healthcare group Fresenius sees Q3 sales rise amidst COVID-19 crisis

Source: Xinhua| 2020-10-29 20:32:20|Editor: huaxia

BERLIN, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- German healthcare group Fresenius announced on Thursday that its sales in the third quarter (Q3) of this year increased by one percent year-on-year to 8.9 billion euros (10.4 billion U.S. dollars).

After falling by 13 percent in the second quarter, net income after special items declined by four percent year-on-year to 427 million euros in Q3, the company said.

"Fresenius remains stable and resilient, and was able to show it once again in the third quarter," said Stephan Sturm, chief executive officer (CEO) of Fresenius in a statement. Having been impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns in the second quarter, sales and earnings resumed a "positive trajectory."

Fresenius Medical Care (FMC), a leading global provider of products and services for individuals with renal diseases, achieved stable sales of 4.4 billion euros and grew net income by seven percent compared with Q3 last year.

"Thanks to the lessons learned from the first phase of the pandemic and our highly committed team, I am very confident that our company will successfully cope with COVID-19," said FMC CEO Rice Powell in a statement.

Sales of Fresenius Helios, a private hospital operator, increased by eight percent to 2.4 billion euros in Q3, while net income rose by 27 percent, according to the healthcare group.

In the 86 German hospitals of Fresenius subsidiary Helios, operations that had been postponed due to the treatment of COVID-19 patients had been made up for in Q3. Hospitals in Spain in particular recorded a strong growth due to catch-up effects and a "dynamic growth of outpatient treatments," Fresenius noted.

Fresenius Kabi, specialized on intravenously administered generic drugs, clinical nutrition and infusion therapies, recorded lower sales at 1.7 billion euros but reported that the recovery in China was gaining momentum. Scheduled non-emergency treatments were almost back to pre-pandemic levels, Fresenius noted.

However, the positive development in China and strong growth of Fresenius Kabi in Europe could "only partially compensate" for the earnings decline in the United States, the healthcare group noted.

Across the group, Fresenius was "well prepared for the challenges that the pandemic will pose to us over the coming months," stressed Sturm, adding that he was "confident" to reach the 2020 targets.

Fresenius projected sales growth between three and six percent in constant currency while the fiscal year target for net income was between minus four percent and plus one percent. (1 euro = 1.17 U.S. dollars) Enditem

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