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Investing.com -- Shares of PolyPeptide Group AG (SWX:SIX:PPGN) fell by 12% following the release of their 2024 financial results, which revealed a miss on revenue expectations, although EBITDA figures were in line with forecasts.
The company reported a mix of divisional revenue with Commercial revenue increasing by 32% but Development revenue declining by 23.5%, leading to an overall group growth of 5.1%. Despite this being seen as a positive indication of future approvals in the pipeline, the second half revenue fell short of consensus by approximately 5% and similarly missed the company’s own guidance.
The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) came in €4 million above the consensus. A slight miss on net income was attributed to higher non-operating costs, though this is not expected to concern investors significantly at this juncture.
Looking ahead, PolyPeptide’s guidance for 2025 suggests revenue growth of 10-20%, which translates to expected revenue between €370-404 million, falling below the consensus of €411 million. This represents roughly a 6% downgrade to the midpoint of expectations. The anticipated EBITDA margin is set to improve from the 7.5% seen in 2024, with current consensus at 13.2%.
Capital expenditures for the company are projected to be around 20% of revenue, supported by customer prepayments. Additionally, the company is considering the implementation of a new enterprise resource planning system, hinting at possible future cash outflows.
Despite these expenditures, PolyPeptide’s net debt stands at €26 million, which is a manageable 1x EBITDA, indicating no immediate balance sheet concerns, contingent on the level of customer prepayments.
RBC Capital Markets commented on the results, stating, "We were wary into the FY results due to high consensus forecasts for 2025, and the midpoint of 2025 revenue guidance is 6% below (3% below RBC), with margin expected ’to rise’ vs 2024. Additionally, the 2024 revenue base was a bit lower than guided at H1 (growth was +5% vs the high single-digit guide)."
They added: "Shares have underperformed the market by 40% just since the start of 2025, so although we expect guidance to lead to modest consensus downgrades, we don’t see much downside to the shares."
The company reiterated its 2028 guidance, continuing to expect revenue to double from 2023 to 2028 with an EBITDA margin approaching 25%.
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