STADA to hire hundreds of employees

Following the takeover by financial investors, the pharmaceutical manufacturer Stada intends to expand its business considerably. "We are planning to hire a few hundred employees worldwide in 2019," said CEO Peter Goldschmidt to the German Press Agency (dpa). While jobs are being created in marketing and sales, there are plans to reduce or relocate jobs in administration and production. "The number of jobs at the headquarter in Bad Vilbel is likely to remain roughly the same. Meanwhile, day-to-day business was going well: earnings increased strongly last year, as Stada announced on Tuesday.  ​

The company is ready for takeovers and cooperations, Goldschmidt said. "These could be pharmaceutical products or entire companies, as long as they fit into our strategy." The right acquisitions are a way to ensure the long-term and sustainable growth of the group with its 10,400 employees worldwide. "Our investors have a lot of confidence in Stada and are willing to invest further."

This year, the company wants to grow faster than the market, which is growing by around 3.5 percent annually, both with over-the-counter products and generic drugs. The financial investors Bain and Cinven had bought Stada in the summer of 2017 for 5.3 billion euros.

But Goldschmidt still sees work ahead. "We are strong locally in many markets, but we want to leverage synergies by strengthening our international purchasing, development and production networks," said the CEO who took office in September. "Stada is not global enough yet. But that does not mean that the company necessarily want to expand geographically. "Our focus remains on over-the-counter medicines and generic medicines including specialty pharmaceuticals for Europe."

In 2018, Stada had good business results driven by strong demand for medicines. Sales increased by one percent to 2.33 billion euros. Adjusted for currency effects, acquisitions and disposals, the company reported an increase in sales by five percent. Stada had left a joint venture in Vietnam and is now setting up a large production site there.

Adjusted net income (EBITDA) also grew by 16 percent to EUR 503.5 million. "We sold more over-the-counter medicines with good margin, such as Grippostad in Germany," said Goldschmidt. Acquisitions such as the anti-dandruff brand Nizoral and the market launch of the cancer drug Pemetrexed also contributed to the profit increase. Under its new owners, Stada has not taken an austerity course at all, but increased profitability.

The bottom line was that the profit rose up to 307 million euros, after 85 million euros in 2017. At that time, however, high costs for the takeover of 45 million euros had depressed the result. In the takeover battle over Stada, there were many quarrels and management changes. while top managers in Bad Vilbel took turns.

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