Faes Farma, S.A. (FAE) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the presentation of Faes Farma's results for the first half of 2026. Today, to explain the results in detail, we are joined by our CEO, Eduardo de la Cuadra; and with Iker Fraile, the company's CFO. Just a reminder before we begin, at the end of the call, we'll open up a QA session. And as always, you can submit your questions through the platform. We'll be happy to answer. Without further ado, I'll turn the floor over to Eduardo.

Thank you, Maria. Good morning, everyone, and thank you very much for joining us for this presentation of first half results. For 2026, the half year results confirm a very positive trend for Faes Farma, which has seen significant revenue growth, strong profitability, gradual integration of SIFI and Edol and maintenance of the courses for the exercise series. The group is making steady progress in its new phase of growth. incorporating ophthalmology as an additional strategic platform and at the same time, maintaining a strong financial position. As usual, we structured the presentation into 3 sections. First, we will review the highlights and key figures for the half year. Next, we'll discuss the evolution of businesses, both by portfolio as well as by geographic regions and divisions. And finally, we will analyze the financial results, cash flow and balance sheet position and the guidelines for the year '26. I think that the goal is to provide a clear picture of the group's performance and the key drivers that explain the growth and the factors that will support performance in the second half of the year. We're starting the first section of the presentation, focusing on the highlights and the main. The first half of 2026 has been a period of strong growth, a strategic milestone for Faes Farma. Total revenue grew by 27%, driven by strong performance in international markets, both through direct sales and licensing as well as for integration. So the size see why it all. In the Pharmaceuticals segment, revenue rose 28%. The integration of the ophthalmology business is beginning to play a role in stands out within the group, while the other areas generally remain a positive trend. Edol revenue grew by 24%, including expenses for organizational restructuring related to acquisitions that we had already included in the first quarter, excluding these expenses. Edol growth would have been 28%, reflecting underlying operational strength. In my portfolio, this semester has been particularly busy. At Akantior, as we mentioned in the first quarter. We've added the approval of the refund in Italy. The one already obtained in Spain, which further strengthened its commercial presence in Europe. At the same time, we have obtained approval for mesalazine in Europe, 1,500 milligrams in tablet form, and we have completed the analysis of the pivotal clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of mesalazine granules, a key step toward its future registration. At the same time, we continue to drive growth in ophthalmology, expanding our development pipeline and introducing new proposals for a wide range of products, both in Europe and in Latin America. We would also like to highlight the agreement with Dongkook Pharmaceuticals for Latin America regarding benign hyperplasia prostate published on July 1. From a financial standpoint, we are maintaining our debt-to-equity ratio, in line with the projected targets and ranges and with an adequate level of liquidity. The integration of SIFI and Edol is proceeding as planned highlighting the merger of SIFI Ibérica and SIFI Mexico, the consolidation, the initial commercial synergies and organizational progress in Italy and for Business synergies organizational progress and is committed to completing the move by the end of this year. 2026, a look at the key figures for the semester show a solid trend across the board at all levels of the income statement. Revenue totaled EUR 391.5 million, representing a 27% increase compared to the first half of the previous year. EBITDA stands at EUR 90.8 million, growing by 24% and absorbing the extraordinary costs, restructuring costs resulting from the integration we discussed in the first quarter. Profit before taxes totaled EUR 66.8 million, an 8% increase, and net income attributable to shareholders stands at EUR 57 million with 9% growth. The difference between revenue growth and net income growth is due to primarily due to the group's new scope of consolidation, which is associated with higher depreciation and amortization expenses to assets of SIFI, Edol and Derio as well as financial costs associated with financing acquisitions. These effects are consistent with the current stage of integration. In the second section, we analyze business performance. First, we'll review the performance by portfolio line and then business areas, which we'll discuss in more detail. By portfolio segment, the first half of the year confirms a more diverse portfolio, diversified and with new drivers of growth by less. It remains a significant molecule, although its sales have declined by 9% due to the expected expiration of patent protection in. In the other licensed countries, performance has been strong and in the direct-to-consumer markets. It stands out in Latin America, where it continues to perform well and remains a leading brand in several markets. Calcifediol grew by 17%, in line with the strong momentum observed in that. First quarter, it stands out in both direct sales to Portugal and Lati. The Americas as the main drivers such as in-licensing. Mesalazine grew by 8%, building on the strong performance seen in the first quarter, especially in direct sales, Latin America and Portugal, the big news is in ophthalmology. It now accounts for 16% of the group's revenue. Following the merger of SIFI and Edol, this area enhances diversity, diversification of the portfolio and opens up a new platform for growth for Faes Farma. By business area, the pharmaceutical sector continues to account for the majority of revenue. EUR 340.6 million and 28% growth. Within the Pharmaceuticals division, Iberia grew by 14% driven by Portugal and the addition of international pharmaceutical companies without licenses grew by 83% driven by calcifediol and for the strength of Latin America. Licensing revenue totaled EUR 66,200,00 and decrease in line with the expected impact. The expiration of Bilastine's patent protection in Japan, Animal Nutrition & Health continued to show very positive trends, EUR 46.5 million and 21% growth. This confirms Pharmaeda's strength and the positives, a result of the strategy and interaction. Overall, the group's revenue structure is now more balanced with greater international influence and greater therapeutic diversification. At Iberia, revenue reached EUR 132.1 million, representing 14% growth. In Spain, the prescription business remained stable during the first half of the year and the calcifediol prescription center strengthened its leadership in vitamin D growing faster than the market and achieving a market share of 46%, 6% and Bilastine and remains the standard of care for allergies, virtually in line with budgets and up from the previous year, driven by the health care sector is performing strongly by strategic brands such as Astrolax, Natureflat, Profiles 4 Dfiles our CDL Billy Fusion. The Consumer segment continues to operate in a more challenging environment, although a recovery is expected in the second half of the year driven by new customers. Freight orders and promotional campaigns. Portugal has shown remarkable growth. Faes Farma Portugal grew by 10% compared to the previous year, driven by strategic products such as Edol Bilelexin, Vastrolx and Agveix. Laboratorio Edol is contributing more than EUR 17 million, although the situation is still marked by the integration process. Trends in the ophthalmology market. International Pharmaceuticals totaled EUR 142.4 million with 83% growth. Latin America is establishing itself as the main area of organic growth was EUR 58.7 million, 19% growth. Mexico stands out growth by 34%, thanks to strong performance of strategic products, particularly Calcifediol. Colombia with 22% growth and Central America and the Caribbean with 20% growth. In the rest of the world, growth is driven by the exports, although this has been partially limited by geopolitical factors. SIFI is contributing EUR 54.2 million. Was a half year with particularly strong growth in Italy. Revenue from licensing totaled EUR 66.2 million with a 9% decline in line with expectations. Bilastine reported revenue of EUR 49.4 million. This trend is most evident in Japan, where both were launched in June. Third-party generics such as the country's own generic drug embarking on a new competitive phase, meanwhile in the rest of the country. It is worth noting that Menarini remains the main driver of the Bilastine license with a very positive performance that partially offsets the decline in Japan. Brazil shows a more mixed trend with strong performance from SIFI, especially in pediatrics, but there is greater competitive pressure in some formulations. Other licenses remain virtually unchanged at EUR 16.7 million. Faes Farma continues to show very positive growth. for the semester with EUR 46.5 million in growth of 21%. This trend confirms that the commitment to and internationalization is paying off. This, therefore, is solidifying its role as the main driver of the business, while international markets, particularly Algeria, Asia and Eastern Europe reinforced their contribution. In addition, it is worth noting the pub area. Small veterinary division that resulted from the integration of Edol Laboratories. Although the figures are not yet significant, work accounts for 22% by value compared to 25% in the Portuguese market alone and in July. It will now begin marketing the first product registered in Spain. We are now in the third section of the presentation, which focuses on the results. financial matters, and I'll turn the floor over to Iker.

Hi. How are you? Good morning, everyone. Thanks to Eduardo. As right next, we're going to review that the more financial aspects of this first half of the year at Faes Farma, starting with the income statement. As Eduardo said, the income statement, the results reflect the group's new size and the contribution of the acquisitions. Total revenue grew 27% to EUR 391.5 million driven by both the new scope and the strong performance of the business. Organic gross profit totaled EUR 270 million, with 31% growth in cost of sales grew by 20.5%, thanks to efficient management of the product mix and production costs in an environment of expanding operations. Personnel expenses rose by 44.5%, driven by the expansion of the scope of consolidation and as we have mentioned by the 3. EUR 1 million in restructuring costs have already been recorded in the first quarter. In addition, we have strengthened the team in key positions to support the long-term growth of our strategic plan. As for other operating expenses are growing in line with the group's new scale. EBITDA reached EUR 90.8 million and grew by 23.8%, excluding extraordinary costs. Excluding the aforementioned restructuring measures, growth would have been 28%, which reinforces a very positive assessment of the company's operating performance. The amortization schedule, as we mentioned earlier, is growing due to increased activity in Derio and the addition of new associated assets associated with SIFI and Edol while financial expenses are rising as a result of the debt incurred to make the purchases given all of the above. Net income, the group's consolidated net income totaled EUR 57 million with a 9.2% increase compared to the first quarter of 2025. Regarding the group's cash flow generation on Page 15, starting from EUR 90.8 million in the first half of the year. Operating cash flow stands at EUR 28.2 million and free cash flow after financial payments and taxes at EUR 18.9 million, the change in working capital is minus EUR 50.7 million, mainly due to 3 factors, most of which are temporary in nature. First, the standardization and operational integration of procurement decisions that have led to temporary increases in working capital usage; second, the increase in inventory related to the move to the new plant in Derio, which requires maintaining a higher safety stock level to ensure the continuity of supply in all jurisdictions in which we operate and the usual seasonality of the business in the first half of the year, which consistent with what was observed in previous fiscal years. CapEx remains at EUR 11.7 million and aligned with a disciplined capital allocation policy. Financial payments totaled EUR 39 million, and they are satisfied, thanks to competitive borrowing costs and active management of the liquidity position. On Page 16 display, we present the trend in net financial debt and the financial position remains strong and provides flexibility to implement our strategic plan, starting from EUR 2.267.50 billion at the end of 2025 and taking into account the cash flow generated by our businesses and the interim dividend payment made, we ended the half year with net financial debt of EUR 261.4 million and a ratio net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of less than 2x, in line with the guidance for this fiscal year. The maturity profile is favorable for the remainder of the period. For the remainder of the year and also looking ahead to 2027. As for our liquidity position, we have EUR 157 million in cash and available credit lines, which puts us in a strong position to meet the business' operational needs and service its debt as well as the payment of the supplemental dividend already distributed in July. With that, I'll hand the floor back to Eduardo to wrap up the review of this presentation of results.

Thank you very much, Iker. Well, we'll wrap up with this summary, which includes the results for the first semester, support the guidelines issued for the group as a whole. For the year, we reaffirm our revenue growth target of between 17% and 19% and BLS growth between 28% and 31% and lower net debt is avoided twice at the end of the fiscal year. These guidelines are based on several factors that we will highlight as evidenced by the performance over the semester, the momentum of market growth. Strategic international markets, particularly Latin America, which offsets the impact of the loss of exclusivity for the Bilastine license in Japan, the full integration of SIFI and Edol operations into the group, generating commercial synergies by strengthening our presence in the prescription market and the omnichannel approach we've established in our own final stages. The relocation of aircraft production with the resulting improvement in operational efficiency. In summary, the first half of the year confirms that Faes Farma is progressing according to plan and maintain sufficient visibility to achieve the annual goals. Out of an abundance of caution, we are maintaining the guidelines until we see how the situation develops. In the coming weeks, that concludes our discussion, the presentation of the results for the first half of 2026. As you can see, Faes Farma is growing and expanding in a disciplined manner and strengthening its diversification and maintaining a solid financial position. From this point on, we are available to answer any questions you may have.

[Operator Instructions] We have the first question from Jose Romero of Banco Santander.

How do you expect restructuring costs to evolve for the rest of the year?

Well, we don't have any further restructuring plans. Therefore, what we have done is precisely what we have done. Has been to carry out those restructuring measures between late last year and early this year, on the one hand, to reduce the impacts and above all, to take advantage of those synergies in the --

There's another second question from Jose Luis as well.

How do you assess your ability to continue growing in international markets, especially in Latin America, some insight into market share penetration and so on?

Yes, LatAm is still the foundation for the company's future growth after many years of building the market position. In the last 2 years, we have achieved competitiveness within commercial vacuum cleaners to strengthen our core and strategic brands, which are, as you know, Bilastine and Calcifediol, which started with market shares much lower than those of the that we have in other markets such as Spain and Portugal and where there's still a long way to go. That's where a very important part comes in, a significant part of that growth, which also comes with a margin for these brands. Very important, it will also accelerate growth, Avida and on the other hand, with new license releases as well. With a very good profit margin, the 2 Japanese licenses we launched at the beginning of -- at the end of last year, at the beginning of this year. And since we signed the agreement on July 1, we'll be able to see to reach Latin America in the mid to late from '27, all of this gives us a projection for Latin America in the coming years. Very powerful while we prepare -- all regulatory dossiers for the global expansion of the ophthalmology portfolio. Therefore, the plan for Latin America is a long-term plan. It has a long way to go, and we're convinced that we'll keep this double-digit growth in Latin America over the next.

There's another question from Jose Luis too.

Even though it has only been on the market for a short time, what are the sales figures for Akantior? What prescriptions are currently being written in Spain and Germany?

Well, here at Akantior, we've gotten off to a great start in Spain, along with a very significant 1% increase and with diagnostic capabilities, treat patients as well just a little more than we used to, expected and anticipated. In Germany, we are still finalizing negotiations on pricing and reimbursement. And in Italy, we've already launched and started making sales. The first week of July, so it's still early. But in Italy, too, we're expecting a major event. And we also have -- well, we're also in negotiations with NICE in the U.K. and in the coming -- in the coming weeks, we hope to gain more visibility as well.