Profits lag behind sales growth at Disetronic
This article was originally published in Clinica
The net income of the Swiss drug delivery company, Disetronic went up by 10% to reach SwFr22 million ($15 million), in the year ended March 31, while total sales increased by 29% to SwFr132 million. The company, of Burgdorf, said that the disproportionately small growth in net income, compared with sales growth, was due to a more conservative investment policy and the currency movements.
The company's business sectors have shown widely differing rates of growth, with sterile products jumping 76%, while injection systems sank by 6%.
Sales from Disetronic's injection systems unit did not meet the company's expectations for the year, with a 6% fall in sales as projects in new injection pens suffered delays. Disetronic produces the pens for pharmaceutical companies for substances such as growth hormones.
The company's sterile products sector had sales growth of 76% - partly due to the acquisition of US company Micro Med, which produces sterile infusion sets and other sterile medical products. The diabetes care business, which produces programmable insulin pumps and glucose measuring strips, had 20% sales growth. The company has around half of the world's market for insulin pumps.
Disetronic's infusion and cardiac systems business had sales growth of 7%. The unit develops programmable, microdosage pumps for the infusion of small volumes and peristaltic pumps for large volumes of medication.
The company expects a 50% increase in sales for 1998/99 - with around half of the increase coming from acquisitions in the pharmaceutical field. Operating profit and net profit are expected to increase, though not at the same rate as sales.