(new: statements from the conference, share price)

BAD HOMBURG (dpa-AFX) - After difficult corona years, the healthcare group Fresenius is slowly getting back on its feet. Progress in its cost-cutting program as well as growth in the hospital business and in the Kabi pharmaceutical division helped the DAX-listed company to a surprisingly high result in day-to-day business in 2023. Fresenius announced in Bad Homburg on Wednesday that this result is set to increase even more in the current year. The news was well received on the stock market - even though the demerger from dialysis provider Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) resulted in a high loss for the Group.

Fresenius shares rose by almost five percent at times in the morning, but by lunchtime the price gain had shrunk to around one percent. Industry expert David Adlington from JPMorgan rated the fourth quarter results as decent. Although the business targets for 2024 were weaker than expected, they once again seemed conservative to him.

Fresenius has had a difficult few years. Many operations had to be canceled during the pandemic, which meant that some drugs were less in demand. At the same time, there were many patient deaths at the dialysis subsidiary FMC. The Group was also hit by a failed takeover, which drove up its debts. Shortly after taking office in October 2022, Fresenius CEO Michael Sen began restructuring the Group and is now pushing ahead with this.

The focus in 2024 will also be on reducing costs, as well as efficiency gains and reducing the high level of debt. Fresenius is also focusing on further organic growth at its main pillars Helios and Kabi, including through a greater focus on innovation, as Sen explained on Wednesday. However, he once again ruled out takeovers for the time being. "Of course, this is not permanent", but Fresenius must be able to afford this.

For 2024, Sen held out the prospect of organic sales growth of three to six percent across the Group. Adjusted operating profit (adjusted EBIT) is expected to increase by four to eight percent excluding exchange rates. This means that earnings growth should accelerate compared to the previous year.

2023 was a "year of transformation and change", said Sen. "We have sharpened our focus, we have streamlined and tightened our structures and improved our performance."

Fresenius is now concentrating on its hospital business around Germany's largest hospital company Helios and the generics manufacturer Kabi. The former subsidiary Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) has now been unbundled from the Group and is only treated as a financial investment. The management has also successfully restructured the floundering hospital service provider Vamed; in the final quarter, the Austrian company was back in the black for the second time in a row. At the same time, Fresenius continued to refine its costs throughout the Group and improved operational processes. The separation of peripheral areas was also part of the reorganization.

These measures have paid off so far. With sales up four percent to around 22.3 billion euros, earnings before interest and taxes adjusted for special items (adjusted EBIT) climbed three percent to just under 2.3 billion euros. In 2022, when FMC was still fully part of the Group, Fresenius still had to digest a decline in operating profit.

However, the accounting separation from dialysis specialist Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) resulted in deep red figures last year, as Fresenius also announced. Due to high value adjustments, Fresenius reported a net loss of 594 million euros - after a profit of just under 1.4 billion a year earlier. In addition, expenses in connection with the restructuring of the hospital service provider Vamed as well as costs for the savings program and the sale of parts of the business had also weighed on the result. However, the red figures should not be repeated, emphasized CFO Sara Henniken. This was a one-off effect.

The divestment of FMC is regarded as the most important step in the reorganization of Fresenius. The dialysis specialist had to contend with rising costs and a shortage of nursing staff during the pandemic. After several profit warnings, Sen pushed ahead with the unbundling of FMC's balance sheet. At the end of November, FMC was converted into a stock corporation. This means that the parent company no longer has to include FMC in full in its balance sheet, but can take the problem child into account in accordance with its stake of around one third. Fresenius now only treats FMC as a financial investment, as it does the project subsidiary Vamed.

The Group has now made progress in separating peripheral areas. In its own words, Sen wanted to sell a handful. Now there are still "one or two smaller businesses in the pipeline", he explained. Last year, the Group divested the fertility clinics of the Eugin Group, among others. According to press reports, talks are also underway regarding Vamed's rehabilitation clinics.

Fresenius has also recently made faster progress than planned with its savings program and was able to exceed its own targets. The Group is therefore raising its savings targets once again. By the end of 2025, Fresenius aims to achieve sustainable annual savings of 400 million euros and thus have a positive impact on its operating result. Previously, Sen had set a target of 350 million.

As already announced, shareholders will have to forego a dividend this time. This is because Fresenius had taken advantage of taxpayer assistance due to the rise in energy costs and would otherwise have to repay the money according to the law. For the future, however, the Group's management is sticking to its plan to increase the dividend annually or at least maintain it at the previous year's level./tav/als/stw/jha/