Fagron NV (FAGR) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to the full year 2024 results webcast of Fagron. I'm here together with our CEO, Rafael Padilla, who will discuss the results and do a deep dive into the region's performance. And then our CFO, Karin de Jong, will go through the financials. Afterwards, they will open the call for your questions. With that, I would like to hand over the call to Rafael.

Thank you, Ignacio, and welcome all. We're pleased to report our full year financial results, which are in line with our guidance. Our revenue reached EUR 172 million, translating into an impressive 13% organic revenue growth at CER. Growth was well balanced across all regions and segments with compounding services in North America being the primary driver. Our EBITDA grew by 16.8% year-on-year with our margin improving to 20%, an increase of 50 basis points. This was mainly driven by the benefits of our global operational excellence initiatives. Free cash flow conversion stood at 56.1%, adjusted for one-off CapEx and factoring, keeping us well above our midterm target of more than 50% and reflects the strength of the underlying business. On M&A, we gained momentum towards the end of '24 with 3 announced acquisitions. And in '25, we have already announced 3 more. These acquisitions fit our strategy as they strengthen our market positions and show our ability to execute value-accretive deals while maintaining financial discipline. Additionally, we have proposed a dividend of EUR 0.35 per share, representing a 17% increase compared to '23. For full year '25, we expect a mid- to high single-digit organic sales growth at CER and a slight improvement in profitability year-on-year. Karin will elaborate on our outlook later. Moving on to the regional dynamics, starting with EMEA. B&E performed well, demonstrating resilience despite changes to Poland's reimbursement policy. This impact was offset by the strength of our diversified footprint. On Poland, we ended the year with solid results as our strategic initiatives delivered positive outcomes. And for '25, we expect to remain stable while we continue to monitor pricing changes and the competitive landscape. In Compounding Services, strong demand continued in the second half, driven by new product launches, new registrations, stock compounding and drug shortages. For '25, we expect continued strength, supported by a robust pipeline of new product launches and an improved commercial strategy, which will help us with new customers. On M&A, we are making good progress on integrating LSP in the U.K., Purifarma in Hungary, EuroOTC in Germany and the recently announced Guinama in Iberia. Regarding CapEx, the EUR 50 million investment in the Netherlands announced during our H1 results remain on track for completion by '27. This state-of-the-art facility will allow us to expand capacity, broaden our product portfolio and increase automation. Moving on to LatAm. A few quarters ago, we made strong commitment to defend our market leadership position in Brazil despite a highly competitive landscape. One year later, our decision has proven correct as the market recovery has significantly improved the region's performance. In B&E, demand increased due to an enhanced commercial strategy, innovative product launches and the broadest portfolio. We saw a notable increase in profitability due to improved operational efficiencies and increased brand revenue share. On the compounding services side, Colombia has maintained its double-digit revenue growth as demand for personalized medicine remains robust. Regarding M&A, the acquisitions of both Purifarma and Injeplast are pending competition clearance before closure. In North America, B&E continued to improve through the year, driven by better product availability, supply chain efficiency and procurement processes. Compounding services delivered strong performance, supported by drug shortages, higher demand and improved operational capabilities. At the end of last year, we began transitioning into our new Anazao facility in Tampa. This phased transition means we will have double cost temporarily. Lastly, the $39 million investment at Wichita, which will expand capacity by approximately $200 million is progressing as planned. Turning to the next slide on quality. Quality remains a key differentiator in our industry with over 35 manufacturing facilities globally, we're constantly inspected and audited by over 75 regulatory bodies to uphold the highest quality standards. As a matter of fact, in '24, there were 18 audits conducted across our facilities. As discussed at the end of last year, the FDA conducted a routine inspection at our Wichita facility in June '24, resulting in a Form 483 with 7 observations and a subsequent warning letter received in December with mainly 3. We submitted our first responses in January and February of this year and corrective actions are being implemented. We expect to complete all necessary work to address FDA requirement in the first half of this year and do not expect any financial or operational disruptions. The closeout of the warning letter is entirely dependent on the FDA. Before we move on to the financials on our disciplined M&A strategy, at the end of '24, we announced 3 acquisitions, EuroOTC in Germany, Purifarma in Brazil and Ritedose's 503B book of business in North America. In '25, we have already announced 3 more, Guinama in Iberia, Injeplast in Brazil and Carefirst in North America. As we can see, our overall M&A approach remains focused on consolidating our market position, expanding our product portfolio and entering new geographies. With a dedicated M&A team and a strong balance sheet, we are well positioned to continue executing our pipeline and position Fagron as a serial disciplined acquirer. And now Karin will go through the financial highlights of the year.

Thank you, Rafael, and good morning, everybody, and thank you for joining this call. I will walk you through the full year 2024 financials and provide some color on the full year 2025 outlook. The first slide lists our financial highlights for the year. In 2024, sales saw a reported growth of 14.3% to EUR 872 million. And similar to last year, North America delivered the highest reported growth of 24%. Our gross margin grew by 180 basis points year-on-year, and this was driven by strong growth at brands in Brazil and the higher gross margin of North America versus the other regions. Overall, operating costs increased by 18.6% when compared to last year, mainly to accommodate the strong growth at Compounding Services in North America and also reflects the impact of the added acquisitions. Overall, our EBITDA showed substantial growth of 16.8% to EUR 174 million for the year, with REBITDA margin expanding year-on-year to 20%. This is mainly reflective of the benefits from our focus on operational excellence across all regions. Our operating cash flow improved 3.3% to EUR 128.7 million when adjusting for factoring. And lastly, our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio remained stable at 1.4x, reflecting a strong cash conversion and ample headroom for future acquisitions. Turning to the next slide. The bridge on the left side illustrates the full year sales evolution. EMEA's resilient organic growth at CER of 4% shows strong underlying demand across the region, offsetting the impact of changes to Poland's reimbursement. LATAM's strong 9.7% organic growth at CER reflects continued improvement in brand performance and the successful execution of our strategy. Lastly, North America exhibited an outstanding 23.1% organic growth at CER, mainly driven by Compounding Services. And as Rafa mentioned earlier, the acquisitions we made during the year are contributing to the results, namely LSP Farma Products and Ritedose. FX had a negative impact mainly from the Brazilian real. On the right side, the P&L shows a 14.3% revenue growth with EBITDA increasing 16.8% before nonrecurring item. And as said during the H1 call, financial costs increased driven by higher interest rates on our debt and debt-like items. Effective tax rate for the year was 22.3% compared to 15.9%, and this is driven by a lower amount of net operating losses being recognized compared to 2023 in North America. As a result, net profit grew by 13% and earnings per share was EUR 1.10 for the year. Then on the next slide. In EMEA, we saw a 10.7% reported revenue growth, mainly supported by the continued strong performance of compounding services and the acquisitions we closed during the year. D&A also delivered solid results as Poland performance improved throughout the year, and we saw a strong demand in the rest of our markets. Increase in operating expenses for this region is mostly reflective of the integration of our acquisitions, so Pharma Products and LSK. REBITDA margin remained stable at 21.5% as our operational excellence initiatives and our diversified footprint in the region were able to mitigate Poland's impact. Two acquisitions, namely LSK and Pharma Products are the main contributors to EMEA's inorganic growth. Our other 2 acquisitions, EO OSE and Ginama closed early this year and will add to the inorganic growth in the full year 2025. Moving on to LatAm. So sales increased by 2.6% to EUR 173.6 million on a reported basis, reflecting our enhanced commercial strategy in brands and robust growth in compounding services, which was offset by the FX impact of a depreciating Brazilian real. Organic growth at CDR was 9.7%. As mentioned by Rafa, our brand strategy worked well in Brazil as our enhanced commercial approach, innovative product launches, and a broad portfolio were able to drive demand. As a result, brand revenue was 34.5% as a portion of total LatAm's revenue, showcasing an increase of 330 basis points year-on-year. LatAm throughout the year also remains focused on cost savings and driving operational excellence. And as an outcome of the above-mentioned dynamics, we saw a nice uptick in the REBITDA margin year-on-year by 170 basis points. The margin for the second half improved to 19.1% compared to 17.3% in the first half, reflecting the seasonality effect of this region. Looking ahead to the full year 2025, we expect to close 2 of our signed acquisitions, Purifarma and Incherpllat as they are pending regulatory clearance. Please note that our profitability guidance for full year 2025 does not include these acquisitions as they are not closed yet. For organic revenue growth in full-year 2025, we expect LatAm to deliver growth in line with our midterm guidance, although it is important to remember that the market remains competitive. Moving on to the next slide, North America. Revenue grew by an outstanding 24% on a reported basis to EUR 383 million. B&E performance continued to improve quarter-on-quarter as we benefited from our operational excellence initiatives such as improved product availability, supply chain capabilities, and procurement processes. B&E in Q4 was able to benefit from the GLP-1 drug shortages. These were to the extent of USD $3 million. Excluding the benefit of the drug shortages, B&E grew by 12% in Q4, demonstrating strong underlying demand and performance of the segment. Whilst we have not seen any further benefit of drug shortages in the B&E in 2025 thus far and the continuation of this opportunity is uncertain, we will take a pragmatic approach in the future. Compounding services remain the main growth engine in the region with an exceptional 28.8% revenue growth year-on-year. We continue to benefit from outsourcing and a high demand for personalized medicine. Looking at the operating costs for the region, they increased year-on-year, mainly to support the volume growth at compounding services, resulting in an increased FTE. REBITDA for the full year expanded by 10 basis points to 19.5%, driven by improvements in operational excellence, mostly offset by the increase in personnel costs. Turning to our cash flow. Robust cash conversion continues to be one of the key attributes of our business model. Operating working capital increased by 270 basis points year-on-year to 12%, mainly reflecting the decrease in factoring. Operating cash flow increased by 3.3% year-on-year, excluding the factoring impact, and decreased by 11.8% on a reported basis. Normalized CapEx adjusted for one-offs ended at 3.6% of revenues, slightly above our guidance of 3% to 3.5%. Lastly, our free cash flow conversion stood at 56.1% when adjusted for one-off CapEx and the decrease of factoring, which is in line with our guidance. Moving to the next slide, we can see our net debt evolution for the full year 2024, and the bridge shows an increase in our net debt from EUR 233.7 million to EUR 270.7 million, a EUR 37 million increase. The increase is mainly due to the acquisitions and investments announced during 2024. And despite the increase, our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio remained stable at a comfortable level of 1.4x. On the debt side, we also successfully refinanced our current debt facility for 5 years. And further, we have 2 extension options of 1 year each. Going forward into 2025, we will continue with our prudent approach while upholding our internal net debt-to-EBITDA threshold of 2.8x, ensuring we have sufficient financial flexibility. Our priority remains maintaining a strong balance sheet while seizing growth opportunities that align with our strategic vision. Before handing it back to Rafael, I will guide you through our outlook for the full year 2025. On the revenue front, we anticipate a mid-to-high single-digit organic growth at CER with varying dynamics across the region. However, the main element to call out here is the low end of the guidance assumes no contribution from North American drug shortages after Q1, while the upper end assumes continued contributions from drug shortages. Also, our guidance includes revenue income of USD $6 million from GLP-1 drug shortages in Q1. As we have always said, we cannot comment on how long it is expected to last, so we'll update the market on a quarterly basis on this topic. Additionally, we expect our profitability to slightly improve year-on-year. We expect EMEA to improve slightly during 2025. North America is expected to be at a similar level or slightly higher in 2025, depending on revenue composition and transition into the new facility in Tampa. And lastly, we expect LatAm profitability to increase while showing a higher margin in H2 than in H1. In the same way as Lote, we expect a higher profitability expansion during the second half of the year. We have announced many acquisitions recently, it is important to note that our profitability guidance includes only our closed acquisitions. Maintenance CapEx will be around 3.5% of revenues, excluding the previously announced one-off projects and investments. Regarding our long-term working capital guidance, we will maintain our 12.5% to 13.5% range. I would now like to hand it back to Rafael for his closing remarks.

Thanks, Karin. To conclude, Fagron is a global vertically integrated niche defensive, high cash-generating company operating in a highly fragmented market. Our resilient business model is fortified by a diverse geographical footprint. And these factors, coupled with demographic trends and our emphasis on personalization are the basis of our success. Our quality focus, together with our ongoing operational excellence initiatives will optimize our business through global synergies while a disciplined M&A strategy remains a key part of our growth. Sustainability is a priority and a strategic cornerstone for us as together, we create the future of personalizing energy. With that, we open the floor for questions.

We'll take our first line from Stijn Demeester from ING.

A couple of them from my end. I will ask them one by one. The first one is on the outlook. Can you provide some additional color on the regional view that is embedded in the organic growth guidance?

Yes, we can. So indeed, we guided for mid- to high single-digit organic growth against a constant exchange rate. So just to highlight, this excludes any acquisitions. So it's organic growth. So if we go to the different regions, for the EMEA region, we expect a low single-digit organic growth. It has to do, of course, with the maturity of the region and the size of the different countries. If we move to the LatAm region, we had a very solid and good performance in the last 2 quarters of 2024 and a very nice performance for 2024, showcasing the benefits of the strategic actions we have taken. For 2025, we expect a high single-digit percentage of top-line growth for that region. So a continuation of the strong performance we have seen. And then on North America, as I said, a very strong 2024. For 2025, we expect a low double-digit with potential upside depending on the continuation of the GLP-1 sales. So GLP-1 sales for 2025 in our outlook is approximately USD $6 million. And we will see and assess on a quarterly basis what we can additionally sell. So concluding, overall, we expect mid- to high single digit for the year. On the low end, if we anticipate only 1 quarter of GLPs on the high end, if we can continue to sell that into the other quarters of the year. I hope this answers your question.

Yes, yes. To clarify, the low double-digit growth in the Americas, that is without any contribution from semaglutide beyond Q1.

Correct, beyond Q1. So Q1 is there.

Okay. Understood. And then on the margin outlook, are there still any elements such as double costs or elevated costs that are still weighing on the margin in 2025 and that prevent you from unlocking the full margin potential?

Yes. So if we look indeed at the margin, we do expect margin expansion for 2025. We had a nice step-up in 2024, moving from 19.5% to 20.0%. We also expect a step-up in 2025, not to the extent that we have seen in 2024. And indeed, that is driven mostly by the U.S. in which we expect a similar margin profile as in 2024, and that is driven by, on the one side, investment in top line growth. So that means that our OpEx is increasing to facilitate that future top line growth. That's on the one side. Secondly, we have, of course, the Tempa facility that will be up and running, which will still have a drag in the first 6 months of this year on our EBITDA margin and of course, lastly, the product mix. So for 2025, we expect a similar margin profile. And for the other regions, maybe to highlight that. So for LatAm, we do expect an expansion of margin, a continuation of the good performance. So again, a step-up in margin for LatAm region, mostly in the second half of the year, and that's what we also seen historically. So that's the seasonality impact. On EMEA, we're also positive, and we expect a slight increase in margin, and that all results in an increase for Fagron as a whole in 2025.

Understood. Then on the warning letter, are you seeing any impact or are you receiving any queries from customers regarding this warning letter for the Wichita facility? Or is there no impact at all on the operations?

Sure. As we said during the call at the end of '24 and reiterate now, there is no operational, commercial or financial impact.

Okay. All right. Understood. And then the last one from me, if I still allowed one. Tim, can you provide any time line regarding the deal approval? Has the time line shifted? Is the probability of the deal being approved in your view increased? Or is there no change?

No, no, there's no change. So as you know, we have to go through competition clearance. And yes, we have to see how long that takes. It can take up to 6 months. So we have to see. So there's nothing changed. We're just waiting on that approval. Sorry, maybe to add. So it's not included in the guidance for profitability, also not for the LatAm region.

Okay. Understood. And the reason that you mentioned this is because it's will initially be dilutive to the margin?

Correct.

We'll take our next question from Victoria Lambert from Berenberg.

You've just completed a number of M&A deals. Could you just give us a sense of the revenue and EBITDA contribution that you expect in 2025? So that's the first one. And then on your Boston facility, where are we with state licenses? Are we still waiting for California? And maybe just a reminder of when that was last inspected by the FDA and then just a clarification question on your GLP-1 contribution in Q4, was this EUR 6 million? And yes, sorry, I think I heard you say EUR 3 million. So just a clarification on that. And then what the underlying growth was there?

Yes. Thank you very much, Victoria. So maybe to start with your first question on the acquisitions. So we closed 2 acquisitions that we will add in our top line inorganic growth for this year. That is Skinama. We'll add that as of the 1st of February. It's a Spanish acquisition, and it will add a low double-digit amount of sales to top line, and it has an above group average. So it's a small acquisition, but that's the first one that we will add. Secondly, we had Euro FSA, which we already announced last year, but we closed early this year. So we will add it as of the 1st of January. Sales is high single digits and the EBITDA is around 15%. So that is also a smaller one that we add to the group. So those 2 were added to the EMEA region. On the other acquisitions, we still are waiting for all administrative processes to be finalized. That's the U.S. acquisition, CareFirst which has mid-single-digit amount of sales, which we will add in the course of 2025 is the expectation. If we look at the Brazilian one, so those are 2, Purifarma, that's a bigger one, has BRL 200 million of sales with 10% EBITDA. And secondly, Incherpllat, which has a low double-digit amount of sales and an above group average of profitability margin. And that, as I said earlier, is pending competition clearance. So we're unsure the timing of that to be added to our financials. But we will inform the market, of course, as soon as the deals are indeed closed.

Victoria regarding Boston, we are now able to ship to 46 states. And indeed, you said it correctly. California, it's not yet there and timing remains unknown. Normally, this is the one that takes the longest time.

Yes. And on the third one on GLP-1s, yes, it's good to clarify that indeed, Victoria. So we have USD $6 million each quarter in 2024, and that's added at the Enzo level, so in compounding services, so USD $24 million on a yearly basis in compounding services for GLP-1. Next to that, we have USD $3 million on top of that, and that's in the B&E segment. So if you look at the B&E segment for the fourth quarter, you see a growth of 26.1% and there's a one-off sales in there regarding GLP-1s. And yes, that's a onetime. We don't see that continuing in Jan or Feb of this year until now. But if we can benefit from that, we will. So we take a pragmatic approach. So in the fourth quarter, in total, it's EUR 9 million, and that's for 2024. If we look at the guidance for 2025, we added EUR 6 million for Q1, so not EUR 9 million, but EUR 6 million. And that's again in the compounding services on the continuation of the GLP-1 sales.

Sure. And finalize, Victoria on Boston, the last FDA inspection took place at the beginning of last year.

We'll take our next question from Thomas Vranken from KBC Securities.

First of all, congrats on the nice results. I was wondering with my first question, if you could zoom in a little bit more in depth on where you stand with regards to the Wichita warning. We know that there are several items that had to be addressed. Can you give an indication as to how many still need to be addressed and which ones those would be? And then I have some follow-up questions later.

Yes, for sure. Thomas, and thanks for congratulating on the results. We're also very happy, satisfied with them. On the warning letter, we want to express, as we said in the call at the end of last year that the closeout entirely dependent on the FDA. It's up to us, of course, to complete all necessary work to address all the requirements. And if you remember, there were mainly 3 observations. We're coming from 43 with 7. So there were mainly 3 at the end. And we expect to complete those during the first semester being the most important in terms of in terms of timing because the other ones are somehow quicker, if you will, on the expansion because if you remember, we were expanding our capacity in Wichita. So it's bringing the new expansion, the new capacity into the current plant. And when that is finalized, and again, will be due course in the first semester, then will be complete. And then we'll wait, of course, for the closeout of the letter, which again is dependent on the FDA.

Okay. And I also wanted to zoom in or go a bit further on the Sema business as well. The situation is a bit peculiar if you look at the FDA drug shortage list where the compound itself is still on the list, but all individual formulations seem to be available according to the website. Can you clarify a bit what that means exactly? And linked to that, given that there is a new U.S. administration stepping in, where there seems to be some kind of outspoken opinion on Sema or on GLP-1 compounding. Any thoughts on how you see that developing going forward?

Yes, for sure. Very, very good question, Thomas, well, for us, we cannot comment on the new administration, what the thoughts on GLP-1 are. What we have heard is that from a recent point of view, from an overall point of view, the new administration prioritizes policies on prevention and lifestyle. And as you know very well, Thomas, especially with our Anazao business, we are 100% focused on preventional lifestyle. So that's regarding the thoughts on the new administration. On the FDA shortage list, normally, what you see is that, of course, the products or the APIs in this case are on the shortage list and then a compounding pharmacy can compound them. When they appear as available, means that the producer of the finished dosage form says that, okay, I have it available, now I can serve the market. However, the FDA understands that if there is an abrupt disruption of the delivery from the compounding pharmacies, it may cause than a shortage. So normally, they are cautious from removing from the list since the moment that the manufacturer has set us as available. So there is a delay and of course, depends on the molecule.

We'll now take our question next line from Matthias Maenhaut from Kepler.

A couple of follow-up questions from me. Firstly, on the guidance for the free cash flow and the CapEx, you mentioned 3.5% of sales, excluding some one-off CapEx. Can you maybe just update us on the one-off CapEx projects? What was originally foreseen and how much has already been spent? And that's my first one.

Yes. So indeed, guidance is USD 3.5 million on maintenance CapEx for 2025. And the one-off projects we mentioned, one is the expansion in the Netherlands of the sterile facility for a total of EUR 15 million. And then we have the expansion in Wichita for USD 39 million. And of that, we spent already EUR 3 million combined in 2024. And the rest of the one-off CapEx in '24 is related to the Tempa facility. So the Tempa facility is finalized. So we don't have any additional CapEx planned there. So the 2 projects that we announced separately are added on top of the 3.5% CapEx guidance we have given. So on the split for what we expect, we expect that the split in spending will be between '25 and '26 with most of it being spent this year, so in 2025, and the facilities will be up and running in 2027.

Second question is actually on the organic growth in Q4 in Latin America. I see it organic growth is 16.2%. Could you maybe provide us with a split in terms of pricing and volumes?

Yes, we can. So we see a slight increase in pricing, and that's a very positive dynamic because we saw negative pricing quarter-on-quarter. So we see a slight increase in pricing in the fourth quarter, but most of it is again driven by volume increase. But we see a change in dynamics there in the last quarters, of course, helped also a bit by the FX but it's turning around, and we do see some positive price impact in that region.

And competitive intensity, is it still improving?

Sorry, I missed.

The competitive intensity for the LatAm region, is it still at the same level? Or is it gradually easing?

Sure. Good morning Matthias, it is gradually easing. However, as you know very well, the Brazilian market is highly competitive because of the huge volumes.

And then maybe a final one. You've done quite a lot of deals lately. You have been quite active. How does your pipeline actually look? And are there any new, I would say, areas or regions you're actually looking into to do M&A?

For sure. Thanks, Matthias. And indeed, we are pleased with these new companies that joined or will join the Fagron family. And of course, the pipeline, as we always express, it's quite dynamic. So you know that we operate in a highly fragmented market with many opportunities, and we are the only global consolidator. It's also true that when we look at it in the past, prices were a bit higher than what we were used to. So we were a bit patient and doing our work, and now they have eased. So that's good from our end. And now it's up to us to, first of all, as we always said, follow the 3 priorities. First is market consolidation. The second here would be, for example, [indiscernible] or Guinama in Spain. The second one would be adding product capabilities in our portfolio. Angioplast is a fantastic example because it's a clear example of backwards integration. And the third one, as you said, extremely well, is entering into new countries and geographies. Hungary was an example. And of course, and we get a lot of questions of that APAC is a region where there is compounding. Of course, we have a look, we have a clear view on that one, but it's not something that at this moment in time, it's a priority for us.

We will now take our next question from Usama Tariq from ABN & Grow.

Congratulations on the great results. I just have currently 2 set of questions. Number one being it's a bit more general. Could you just try to comment on the potential U.S. tariff picture going on since the administration has been there for some time? Do you have some more clarity with that? Most of the raw materials come from China, India. Could you just give a ballpark view as to how you see things going forward, if there is any impact? And my second question, if I may, would be on capital allocation. We've seen 17% increase in dividend. And once a while, there's also a stock buyback program. How does the whole process work? The stock fell to almost 15.5%. Was stock buyback also considered at that time? What is the dynamics of raising that and not going for a stock buyback program? Just for my understanding, if possible.

Yes, for sure. Good morning, again. Regarding tariffs, what we saw in the past when there were tariffs applying especially to China, and you are totally correct, materials, 60% from our global sourcing comes from Asia, mainly from China. We were able, not only us, but the rest of the players as the majority of the raw materials are coming from that region to also increase the price points, right? So our margin was not affected. Price points were increased. If you recall, we announced last year that we started producing our essentials, the raw materials, right, the quality control and repackaging and CGMP facilities in Brazil, to export to the U.S. So this gives us, of course, more volume in our Brazilian plant, which is the biggest in the group and would also ease this pressure if price points were not able to be increased. However, that's something that we expect to happen, so that price points will be also increased.

So on your capital allocation question, so our focus for capital allocation is reinvesting our capital for long-term sustainable growth. So that means that we want to do M&A deals, as we have shown in the last couple of months, an accelerated pace of that. And on the other side, we want to do organic investments as we have also announced 2 big investments for expansion of capacity in very attractive markets. So that's our first focus for capital allocation. So M&A and organic investment. Then thirdly, the dividend or share buyback. If you look at our balance sheet currently, it's at 1.4x. So we have a strong balance sheet. We have sufficient room to fund our M&A and our organic investments. So that's the reason why we increased our dividend to EUR 0.35. On share buybacks, of course, the liquidity in the share is sometimes for discount. So if that opportunity comes up in the future to consider that, we will. But currently, we're more focused on growth opportunities and a slight increase in dividend year-on-year on the back of good results that we have shown in 2024.

We'll now take the next question from Eric Wilmer from Kempen.

I just came from another call, hence, apologies if I missed something. But following up on Matthias' question, you mentioned that the LATAM market remains competitive. I think you demonstrated good margin development in the area last year. Does your margin guide imply no margin recovery in the region? And the volume growth that you highlighted in Q4 in LATAM, is this market share or market recovery led? And then I had a question on your CMD, your upcoming CMD. I'm obviously not asking for a preview, but the word updated strategy kind of got my attention. In what type of direction should we think here?

Yes. So maybe to start on the LATAM market, I mean, we do expect an expansion of margin going into 2025. So we saw a nice step-up in 2024. We also expect an increase in 2025 in profitability and profitability margin. Of course, what you typically see in the LATAM market is that H2 is better than H1. That has to do with seasonality. So we were expecting the same picture for 2025. So we do expect margin expansion.

And indeed, when you see the developments in LATAM, especially in Brazil, we have seen that the market has recovered. So the number of scripts has increased here is public data coming from the Association of Compounding Pharmacies. And as we took the initiative to defend our market-leading position some years ago when we saw the opposite, right, a decline after COVID because during COVID, remember that it was quite strong people seeking for prevention and lifestyle and immunity system. So we have seen that we have maintained our market share position and the market has increased, and therefore, we have also increased with the market.

Yes. On the Capital Markets Day, Eric, of course, as you understand, we cannot discuss the topics here. But of course, we go back to our strategy, have a revisit on the mid-term and long-term guidance we are having. We're going to update you on the different regions and the different segments. So that's the intention for the Capital Markets Day.

We will now take the line from Maarten Verbeek from The Idea.

It's Maarten from The Idea. Two questions from my side, please. Firstly, has already been asked about the permits for Boston and California is still not there. But in the last 6 months, you have not obtained one new permit. It's still 46. So why has it stopped? And I do understand it takes a bit longer. And do you already have the one for Florida?

Yes. Martin, good question. The Florida, we do have, indeed, we do have and the remaining 3 because it's 47 and 3 to 50 small states. So we expect them to happen in the course of the next month. However, what moves the needle there, it's California and we still wait, as we said, answering Victoria's question, this is a state that normally takes the longest.

Great. And then secondly, last year, you were phasing out the factoring. Has that been completed? So this year, it will be a more like-for-like basis?

Yes, Maarten. So indeed, we decided to decrease the factoring. So at the end of 2024, we have EUR 16.6 million of factoring debt. And by the end of 2023, we had EUR 35.5 million, so a reduction of EUR 18.8 million, which is also reflecting in our operating cash flow, and of course, in our receivable position at the end of the year. We are at the end. So we don't expect a further reduction of that. We did that to decrease financial spend on that, but we finalized now. So we don't expect any continuation of that in 2025.

We're now taking the question from Victoria Lambert from Berenberg.

The first one is just on how to think about finance costs in 2025, just given you did a refinancing round. And then just looking through the comments, you guys noted that you expect Poland to be stable this year. So maybe just a bit more color on that assumption would be helpful.

So maybe to start on the first question on the refinancing. Yes, so we announced the refinancing because we wanted to push out the maturities. So we had an additional 5 years to 2030, and we also wanted to create a bit more flexibility and conditions set out in the banking documentation and increase the facility to EUR 575 million. That is, of course, to fund our M&A and growth strategy that we have. The conditions for the new financing are in line with the financing we have. That said, for 2025, we do expect an increase in interest cost, and that has to do with the maturing of interest rate hedges that we had in 2024. So everything being equal in the amount drawn and the net debt-to-EBITDA ratio, we expect an increase of approximately 100 bps on our credit facility debt, which is partly offset by reduced factoring costs, of course, and a reduction in our hedging costs. And on the second one, Victoria, can you please repeat it? We missed the first part of your question.

Sure. It was just on Poland. You guys were saying you expect a stable contribution from there this year. So just more color on this assumption would be helpful.

Yes, for sure, Victoria. As you know, at the end of '23, we shared with you the news coming from the Polish government that the whole pharmaceutical sector was to be reviewed on regarding reimbursement, of course. At that moment, we actively made part of the commission for compounding as we lead the industry. Then the new prices came substantially lower compared to the previous ones. At that moment, of course, previously, with all activities we're taking, we enhanced all our commercial activities, mainly the Fagron Academy that's going to the doctors to generate scripts, right? That's the activity that we're doing, but we accelerated that one. And we saw a nice compensation during the year. So more volume and this was offsetting the value per item decrease. So for this year, we expect the volumes to stabilize or even slightly increase. And on pricing, we also expect that prices will be stable. We'd like also just a small note on this one, Victoria, is that thanks to our diversified footprint in EMEA and our scale, we were able to compensate on the D&E segment, as you have seen today with the rest of the countries.

[Operator Instructions]. It appears that we have no further questions in queue. So I will hand you back to your host for any additional or closing remarks.

Thank you. Thank you very much for your participation today. We look forward to hosting you at our Capital Markets Day and Q1 results on the 10th of April at our flagship Capella facility in the Netherlands. We will provide further details in due course and look forward to seeing you all soon. Thank you, and goodbye.

This concludes today's conference. You may now disconnect.