Uniphar PLC AGM Statement (0016Z)

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RNS Number : 0016Z

Uniphar PLC

11 May 2023

AGM Statement

Dublin, London | 11 May 2023

Uniphar plc (the "Group" or "Uniphar") is holding its AGM today at 11am BST at the office of William Fry, LLP, 6th Floor, 2 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, D02 A342, Ireland.

At the AGM, Maurice Pratt, Chairman of Uniphar, will make the following statement:

"I am pleased to say that 2022 was another successful year for Uniphar, with further progress made towards our financial and strategic objectives. The Group delivered a strong financial performance, in line with the Board's expectations. Building on our robust performance in the previous year, the Group delivered 5.7% organic gross profit growth, with organic growth across all divisions and an outperformance in our Supply Chain & Retail division. EBITDA increased to EUR98m reflecting reported growth of 13.4% and the Group ended the year with strong liquidity and modest leverage of 1.0x, underpinning the Group's disciplined approach to capital allocation and cash conversion.

During the year, we continued to make significant strategic progress across each division and enhanced our platforms through both organic investment and M&A that will ensure continued, resilient growth through 2023 and beyond:

-- In Product Access, the acquisitions of BModesto Group and Orspec Pharma provide significant capability across continental Europe and the Asia Pacific region. These assets, which we will continue to invest in, add significant scale and reach to our global Product Access platform.

-- In Commercial & Clinical, Boston headquartered Inspired Health broadens our service offering through high value market research consultancy services. We also progressed our European commercialisation platform through an organic investment in a highly skilled pan-European Medical Affairs team.

-- In Supply Chain & Retail, the acquisition of McCauley Pharmacy Group, who are the Irish market leaders in health, wellbeing and beauty products, adds significant capability to our higher margin retail offering. We also announced a multi-year investment in a new distribution facility which will future-proof our Supply Chain & Retail business and support future growth across the wider Group.

Uniphar has traded in line with the Board's expectations in the first four months of 2023 and remains well positioned to deliver organic gross profit growth across all divisions and to deliver on expectations for the full year.

Sustainability continues to form a key part of Uniphar's culture and business practices. Initiatives such as our hugely successful Unity for Hope charity event, and the launch of our two Employee Resource Groups - the Rainbow Alliance and the Women's Alliance demonstrate our commitment to creating a sustainable workplace. Our teams also made progress under our Environmental pillar, improving our carbon footprint initiatives and focusing on ways to further decarbonise our business. We completed our first Scope 3 assessment, highlighting the opportunity for a collaborative approach with our suppliers to reduce our collective impact on the environment. Finally, our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance across the Group continued in 2022, where the Board adopted the UK Corporate Governance Code, achieving another important milestone on our journey as a publicly quoted company.

The continued success of the business in 2022 could not have been delivered without the commitment, ingenuity and "can-do" spirit of our Uniphar colleagues worldwide, who continued to deliver for our customers, the pharmacies, hospitals, manufacturers and patients we serve throughout 2022, while navigating the various challenges presented during the period, including unprecedented global cost inflation and supply chain disruption.

I would like to thank all of our Uniphar colleagues, management and my fellow Directors for the huge effort they have put in over the past 12 months, and for their continued dedication and commitment. Finally, I would like to thank our shareholders, executive team and all our teams worldwide for their loyalty, hard work and dedication during 2022."

--- ENDS ---

For further details contact:

 
Uniphar Group                                      Tel: [phone] 
Allan Smylie, Head of Strategy and IR 
 
Davy (Joint Corporate Broker, Nominated Advisor    Tel: [phone] 
 and 
 Euronext Growth Listing Sponsor) 
Daragh O'Reilly 
 Niall Gilchrist 
 Ivan Murphy 
 
RBC Capital Markets (Joint Corporate Broker)       Tel: [phone] 
                                                    4000 
Jonathan Hardy 
 Jamil Miah 
 
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Joint Corporate    Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7710 
 Broker)                                            7600 
Matt Blawat 
 Ben Maddison 
 Francis North 
 
Q4 PR                                              Tel: [phone] 
Iarla Mongey, Public Relations Advisor to Uniphar 
 Group 
 

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May 11, 2023 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)