Lonza maintains 2024 targets after first quarter
Published: Tuesday, May 14th 2024, 07:40
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The pharmaceutical contract manufacturer Lonza has reported a slightly weaker start to 2024. Nevertheless, the outlook for the current year is confirmed, as the gap to the leaderboard should be closed over the course of the year. The important growth projects are also progressing according to plan.
In Biologics, Lonza saw "good" momentum in the first quarter of 2024, with continued customer demand for commercial supplies, Lonza announced on Tuesday. However, demand for early-stage services was weaker.
According to Lonza, the Small Molecules division achieved "strong" demand. There are also still headwinds from the market for cell and gene therapies, although commercial and operational performance has improved.
In the Capsules and Nutritional Supplements division, demand for pharmaceutical hard capsules in the Western markets was weaker than Lonza had expected. In addition, the Nutraceutical division reported a lower margin despite improved demand.
In view of the first quarter, Lonza is confident of achieving its targets. Accordingly, the company expects stable sales growth in local currencies and an operating profit margin in the "high 20 percent range" in 2024.
The medium-term sales guidance, which has just been increased with the purchase of a large production facility from Roche, has been confirmed: From 2024 to 2028, Lonza aims to achieve average annual growth in local currencies of 12 to 15 percent. The margin is expected to rise to between 32 and 34 percent.
Since the sale of its specialty chemicals division just over three years ago, Lonza has been a pure contract manufacturer for the pharmaceutical industry - and the world's largest. During the coronavirus pandemic, the company became known primarily for the vaccine order from Moderna and generated sales of CHF 6.7 billion last year.
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