Fresenius marks restructuring end with Vamed exit, raises outlook
Adds detail on Vamed exit in paragraphs 1-3, CEO quote in paragraph 4, analyst comment in paragraph 6
By Tristan Veyet
May 8 (Reuters) -Germany's Fresenius FREG.DE said on Wednesday it had completed its restructuring with a "structured exit" from its loss-making service unit Vamed as it raised its outlook for 2024 after beating first-quarter forecasts.
Fresenius said it will sell Vamed's businesses in Austria to construction groups Porr ABGV.VI and Strabag STRV.VI for 90 million euros ($97 million), but retain its hospital services.
Vamed's international project business will gradually be scaled back, it said, adding that the process should be largely completed by 2026. Vamed accounted for 10% of Fresenius' revenue and posted an operating loss of 16 million euros in 2023.
"With the exit from Vamed, our strategic portfolio restructuring has been completed as planned," Fresenius Chief Executive Michael Sen said in statement.
Since his appointment in October 2022, Sen has been cut costs and debt after Fresenius was hit by a fall in earnings at its former dialysis unit, Fresenius Medical Care.
"The exit from the remaining Vamed businesses should be well received by the market as Vamed was widely viewed as a drag on group profitability and a distraction for management," Berenberg analysts said in a note
Shares in Hessian-based Fresenius were up 3.2% at 0822 GMT, their highest level since early January.
The company said it had raised its full-year outlook after a strong first quarter and due to improved business prospects for its maker of generic hospital drugs, Fresenius Kabi.
It now expects organic group revenue to grow by 4%-7% this year, up from 3%-6% it had expected earlier.
Fresenius also hiked its EBIT margin expectations to 15% to 16% compared with a previous forecast of around 15%.
In the first-quarter, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) were 633 million euros ($680 million), above analysts' expectations of 606 million euros, an analysts consensus from Vara Research showed.
On Tuesday, Fresenius Medical Care FMEG.DE also beat first-quarter operating earnings forecasts as a result of higher pricing and cost cuts.
($1 = 0.9306 euros)
Reporting by Tristan Veyet in Gdansk; Editing by Tom Hogue, Louise Heavens and Alexander Smith
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