Uriach exceeds its objectives and will invoice more than 500 million this year

BarcelonaThe Catalan pharmaceutical company Uriach will exceed the revenue projections included in its 2020-2025 strategic plan, which called for reaching €500 million this year. The family-owned company achieved revenue of €476 million last year, a 54% increase over the previous year, thanks to acquisitions made in Europe to lead the self-consumption pharmaceutical business based on natural ingredients.

The company expects to increase sales by 10% in 2025, which will allow it to surpass the €500 million mark. Around three out of every four euros of its business currently come from outside Spain.

CEO Oriol Segarra stated at the results presentation that 2024 was an "extraordinary year," both in terms of organic growth and acquisitions, most notably those of the French company Ineldea and the German company Pascoe. Of the €166 million increase in sales compared to 2023, €130 million was due to business acquisitions, while the remainder was organic growth, up 12%. Operating income, at €74 million, increased by 69%.

The evolution experienced has caused the company to review its objectives, because those that had been established have been exceeded, Segarra has said. This year the forecast is to grow 10% by digesting acquisitions, which will make it exceed the 500 million that had been set as a target. And the intention is to recover the purchasing strategy starting next year, he has said.

Segarra has highlighted the transformation experienced by the group during the last decade, from the traditional pharmaceutical business to natural consumer healthcare, which are self-consumption products sold in pharmacies and contain natural ingredients. This has been one of the pillars of the group's strategy, which last year opened its capital to a third party For the first time in its 185-year history, the British fund ICG, with around 30%.

Controlled debt

The entry of the new investment partner has allowed the company to maintain its conservative debt policy, equivalent to two to two and a half times operating profit (EBITDA), Segarra said. He also explained that the other pillars of the strategy are accelerated and profitable growth, internationalization, and professionalization. Since 2015, the company has made a total of nine acquisitions of other companies.

Uriach already has a direct presence in 11 countries and aims to grow in the future in Nordic and Eastern European countries, although one of its goals is to strengthen its presence in places where it is already present, such as Germany, the CEO explained. The group, which sold its factories in Spain, only has two small production plants left in Germany. It has 350 employees in Spain and 1,400 worldwide.