LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Healthcare service provider Uniphar reported a strong full-year performance on Tuesday, with EBITDA growth of 13.4%, return on capital employed of 17.3%, and year-end leverage of 1.0x.
The AIM-traded firm said its gross profit grew 11.7%, or 5.7% on an organic basis, to €306.74m, which it put down to a strong performance across all divisions, with supply chain and retail outperforming its medium-term guidance.

Its 13.4% EBITDA growth took the figure to €98.0m, with the board saying the increase reflected the group's strong organic performance, as well as the benefit of acquisitions and investment in infrastructure to support future growth.

Adjusted earnings per share were 13.2% firmer at 18.4 euro cents.

Uniphar executed four strategic and value-accretive acquisitions in 2022, with a total acquisition value including potential deferred considerations of €185m.

The company maintained strong liquidity, with net bank debt standing at €91.2m at year-end on 31 December, up from €48.3m a year earlier.

Additionally, reported free cash flow conversion came in at 82.5%, and the firm's leverage remained low at 1.0x, which the directors said underpinned the company's disciplined approach to capital allocation and cash conversion.

Uniphar's total dividend for the year was €4.8m, or 1.7 cents per share, representing an increase of 5% year-on-year.

That included a €1.7m interim dividend, or 0.6 cents per share, paid in October and a final dividend of €3.1m, or 1.1 cents per share, subject to approval at the annual general meeting.

For 2023, Uniphar said it expected continued organic gross profit growth across all divisions, adding that it was well-positioned to deliver on expectations.

"The group performed strongly throughout 2022, making further progress against our financial and strategic objectives," said group chief executive officer Ger Rabbette.

"In commercial and clinical we further enhanced our commercial offering, adding medical affairs capability in nine European markets and acquiring Inspired Health, an innovative market research company.

"In product access, the acquisitions of BModesto and Orspec expands our reach in continental Europe and the Asia-Pacific region and will further accelerate our growth towards market leadership in the provision of unlicensed medicines and the delivery of expanded access programmes globally."

Rabbette said that in supply chain and retail, the firm's strategic investment in a new distribution facility and the acquisition of McCauley would further improve its market leadership position and service offering.

"We will continue to apply a disciplined approach to capital deployment both organically and through mergers and acquisitions where such investment accelerates our strategic plans and delivers a return on capital employed within or above our targeted range of 12% to 15% within three years.

"Uniphar is an ambitious organisation, and we are confident of delivering on expectations throughout 2023 and beyond.

"We remain firmly on track to achieve our strategic objective of doubling 2018 pro forma EBITDA within five years of initial public offering."

At 1130 GMT, shares in Uniphar were up 4.62% at 306p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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