Castelvecchio Pascoli (Lucca, Italy), 16 March 2021 – The Board of Directors of Kedrion S.p.A., a biopharmaceutical company that specializes in the development, production and distribution of plasma-derived therapies and in the collection of plasma, has approved the unaudited consolidated results for the first quarter of 2021.
The following figures are on a consolidated basis.
Our sales of plasma-derivative products in the first three months of 2021 have remained strong and in line with the corresponding period in 2020. Notwithstanding the strong performance in plasma-derivative sales, we recorded EUR 123.0 million in revenues for such quarter, with a decrease of 25.7% compared to our revenues for the first quarter of 2020 (EUR 165.6 million). The decrease in revenues is attributable to lower sales of plasma because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which did not affect the first months of 2020.
Lower plasma sales were in turn driven by lower collection volumes as result of fewer donations following government-imposed lockdowns and the associated stimulus programs (in particular in the United States). As a result, certain high-frequency donors, such as students, were less likely to donate as they had less need for supplementary income. Additionally, given that Covid-19’s impact on the first quarter of 2020 was negligible, and the first quarter 2020 was a historically strong quarter as compared to prior first-quarter results, the decrease in revenues year-over-year was heightened.
Nonetheless, our results for the three months ended March 31, 2021 outperformed management’s expectations for the quarter, primarily due to the performance of the Plasma Derivatives and Other segments
Despite the year-on-year decline in revenues, we recorded EUR 23.9 million in reported EBITDA and EUR 34.6 million in adjusted EBITDA in the three months ended March 31, 2021, a significant increase as compared to the same period in 2020 (respectively +25.1% and +39.2%). This strong underlying performance was due to the decrease in costs outpacing the decrease in revenues, the relative weight that higher-margin plasma derivatives represented in our sales mix for the period, and the impact of the disposal of certain plasma centers.
Our net financial debt has decreased since December 31, 2020 due to increases in cash available from the sale of centers to Grifols and improvements in our revenue collection operations. Excluding the impact of IFRS 16, as of March 31, 2021 Kedrion’s Net Financial Position totaled EUR 482.9 million compared to EUR 507.1 as of December 31, 2020.
On March 31, 2021, our subsidiary Kedplasma, LLC signed an agreement with Grifols, S.A. for the sale of seven plasma donation centers located in the United States for a purchase price of $55.2 million.
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Q1 2021
