Galenica AG (GALE) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, a very warm welcome to this year's meeting and Analyst Conference of the Galenica Group on the occasion of the annual results 2021. [Operator Instructions] You find the access information on the media communication on the website www.galenica.com under Media, Media Conference. [Operator Instructions] Speakers will be Marc Werner, CEO of the Galenica Group; and Felix Burkhard, CFO of the Galenica Group. The floor goes to Marc Werner now.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to welcome you very warm on this annual conference for the year. I'd like to welcome you here in the room and to everyone on the digital way. Welcome. We're an agile organization who likes to try new things. So we've invited you today, not to Bern, to our HQ, but here to Zurich. We found the space available for us in Bern meets it's limits in terms of the technology needed for a live cast. And -- so we'd be happy to get your feedback in terms of which location you prefer in the future. It's a special pleasure to be able to be here today. 2022 was once more a very successful year for Galenica. So we continue on our highly successful path since our IPO in 2017. In 2022, we've achieved 2 important milestones. First, CHF 4 billion sales were unmatched and second, CHF 200 million EBIT. After the IPO, my colleagues tell me, of course, I wasn't there at the time. After the IPO, Galenica was very proud to generate CHF 3 billion in sales for the first time. Now just 6 years later, we've crossed the CHF 4 billion line, plus 1/3 in sales. After the IPO, EBIT has increased by 50% even and is over CHF 200 million for the first time without the special effects of 2021. We're so proud of that development, which has surpassed the forecasts made at the IPO. That development is also reflected in the share price. Our shares started in April 7, 2017 at CHF 43 and it's developed plus -- up 75.7%, a great investment from our IPO. In 2017, Galenica started out successful, extremely solid and sound foundation. We've consistently developed and built on that foundation strategically and with adequate operating measures. Our success in the future will depend on how well we anticipate the major changes in our society and in healthcare and how we can find adequate solutions for our customers, for our partners, for our staff and therefore for the society in our country as a whole. In other words, Galenica is in a fundamental process of transformation. And such a process change does not only bring change in terms of business activities, operations or digitalization, but also in terms of culture. The understanding of leadership, personal responsibility, cooperation toward mutual goals for the bigger benefit. Additional strains like the pandemic, shortage of skilled labor and supply and inflation have surfaced and in parallel, we have been changing our company on many levels, but still we're surpassing the goals we set ourselves. And that's not a matter of course, so it speaks to the huge readiness of all our employees to try something new and to give it their all for the customers day after day. And that is the most fruitful basis for future success. About 3 years ago, we started out on this transformation journey and further developed Galenica on several levels. Today, we're taking the next step of launching our new branding, our new identity. Of course, the logo is not the most decisive or crucial driver of transformation, but it's the most visible element. The clearest sign of a fresh start. And it's also the element that sparks most emotions, positive emotions. So more modern, it's fresher. It's trendier and a bit cheeky also. Humanly approachable, personal. Strategically, the mark incorporated in our logo is the mutual visual foundation when it's about showing our network of services and offers. It symbolizes a fingerprint. A fingerprint stands for personal proximity and individual services rendered that we offer to all our customers in our network. And in our network, the strongest partners from the Swiss health care market have come together. Together, we offer fully integrated solutions, both for end consumers and patients but also for professionals. And with the digital offers, we connect the systems, customers and patients, the partners so that health care needs may be catered to in an easier, more efficient, less costly way with an even higher safety for our patients. Let's delve into that network for a bit. The pharmacies, we operate the biggest network in Switzerland at the most attractive locations. So we cater to one of the most important needs of our customers. We're close, we're easily approachable and we're immediately at our customers disposal. The pharmacy will remain the most important channel in the future, not only for our products. In 2022, we provided 60% more health services in the pharmacy than on the previous year. We supported 120,000 customers with services like vaccinations or checkups, and we'll continue along that path and expand on it. That does not only boost customer benefit, but it also makes the profession and day to day work more attractive. So we're offering to our employees more meaning in their work. We open up the opportunities to fully tap their potential, find new skills and develop them, and I'll get back to that in a minute. For the customers, the pharmacy may help directly in many cases, a skilled liaisoning partner because they get professional and efficient advice, which is an enormous welcome deburdening for other service providers, such as medical doctors or hospitals. We all know there are fewer and fewer medical doctors around. And hospitals are under strain from a shortage of skilled labor. And it's more inexpensive to turn to a pharmacy. Three health care insurers have already put that into practice and offer insurance models where the insured profit when they turn to pharmacies for health advice. So personal consultation means you meet a professional environment, pleasing environment, which is why we've invested in new store concept and have tested with pilots we call [ Medi Corner ]. The type of infrastructure that the customer needs for a best experience also when turning to pharmacies for advice. It is our target that people turn to pharmacies, not only for medication, but also for advice. Our own network of pharmacies and our skills and services for the overall market [indiscernible] for Galexis have made us a strong partner for our industry and for everyone who intends to sell health products in a pharmacy. That is why we are able to enter into attractive partnerships just like with Boiron recently. And we also boost our product portfolio with acquisitions, for instance, with Cannaplant, which opens up new therapies on offer for patients and medical doctors. The brick-and-mortar pharmacies, the professional service spectrum and an attractive assortment. That's an important part of our omni channel strategy. On top of that, we continue to expand the networking of on and off-line offers so that our customers have a seamlessly positive experience, that includes web shops and other digital opportunities. The personal digital portal, health portal, for instance, that allows we do everything that has to do with my health. So arrange appointments with medical doctors or the pharmacy handover prescriptions, get advice, order products, find a legacy of products, product purchases and so on. We're working very hard on that. On the one hand, we're developing our own portals. And on the other hand, we're cooperating with other platforms. For instance, with the Well platform. We are convinced of that multitrack strategy because we want to be where our customers are. Now all of these ideas, we've aggregated together as follows. We are the pharmacy of the future in Switzerland. Just a stone's throw away, personal, strong for you, just to click away, the point of contact and the companion for health issues. And quite personally, that does not only go for pharmacies, but for all patients at home. So we offer physical or digital personal care with delivering prescription medication and other specified medical products. That's what's being done by MediService and Bichsel. So we have an outstanding position in an attractive and strong growing market. And the strong growth of MediService is proof enough. We cater to real needs of an increasing number of patients. And once more, we are making a moderating contribution to the increasing health costs overall. In order to be able to provide all of that for our patients and customers and the entire health care market, we're also continuing to develop our services for professionals with cooperations and acquisitions like Emeda, Lifestage Solutions and Aquantic, with expanding our infrastructure, for instance, with the top-notch distribution center in Lausanne, launching new digital systems like the new ERP system for Alloga and Galexis, and with new digital solutions for the health care market, like the E-prescription. Our pilots have proven to be successful, and we've gathered valuable experience. Our solution is working. And the next step, it's going to be all about the context on the preconditions that also will have to be met by service and care providers. At the same time, we're actively committed to drawing up national standards. E-prescriptions, too. It's about connecting patients, doctors and pharmacists digitally to have a more seamless and efficient process and to boost patient safety. As I said at the beginning, our success in the future will depend on how well we anticipate the major changes in our society and in health care and how good we can provide adequate solutions. Now change has a major impact on staff attitude and behavior -- and of our staff. So that's culture. And I'm firmly convinced that we can meet the challenges ahead of us with powerful strength and that the individual elements will positively impact, complement and reinforce one another. Let us take the requirement that customers will have to become agile, faster, more customer-focused and more efficient. That can only be done if we adapt the way we work and our structures accordingly. Now that we've launched say for IT and digital projects, there are some departments that are about to launch role-based forms and organizations, smaller departments like Corporate Communications, but also larger units like pharmacies. New forms of organizations require by both executives and employees, a new understanding in terms of leadership, skills and responsibility. We invest handsomely in that topic via internal training models or topics like servant leadership, and these are things that we actively talk about and discuss with our managers. So that leads us to be more flexible and we reduce [indiscernible] and create leaner processes. And what is more important is our employees can have a stronger say. They can fully use their skills to take on more responsibility and have even more opportunities to develop. We would like to win over young people to work in health care. That is why we have to offer them prospects in their professional life. First, in terms of content, as I said, with expanding the health care services in pharmacies or by making it possible that pharmaceutical assistance may take on new roles and new responsibilities in pharmacy, which in turn offers an opportunity for wage development. And then, culturally, we all know nobody wants a micromanaging boss anymore these days. As I said, we even have new forms of organization in pharmacies. We are convinced that work models that put humans at the center of attention, support us strongly in the war of talent. We want to make professions in the pharmacy more attractive to hand more skills to staff and open up the opportunity for them to participate and we've already measured first success. After 2 years of the pandemic, our employees were much under strains in 2022, such as with supply shortages of medication and shortage of labor. So that was quite a challenge for our employees in pharmacies and logistics. But still employee satisfaction was boosted from 71% to 74% in 2022. Our employees feel inspired to do their utmost every single day, and they told us that they work in an attractive organization. So that shows that we've made progress and that we are on the right track. And polls have shown that salary doesn't necessarily come first, but our salary measure is valued highly by our staff especially in the lower wage brackets. And starting in '23, we haven't had individual targets at Galenica at the moment. From the employees up to me, there are mutual corporate targets, 2 of which have to do with the satisfaction, both customers and employees that we measure with the Net Promoter Score, NPS. NPS shows us the readiness of customers or employees to recommend us further. So customer safety is directly linked to the satisfaction of employees because if you're infused, you will recommend us further. And that's why we're trying to really greet everyone with a smile. A big smile shows how we feel on the inside. And it's really infective. So please smile everyone. Thank you. But that's just one example in my statement that the individual elements that we're developing and launching on our transformation journey will positively influence, complement and reinforce one another. I'm fully aware that analysts cannot derive sales or profit forecasts from these topics, but still I'm convinced that these -- convinced that these elements are the foundation for success or as Peter Drucker has already said, culture eats strategy for breakfast. Let me now hand over to our CFO, Felix Burkhard, who is going to present the hard facts. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, Marc has shown you impressively the way that we have pursued ever since the IPO, continued incrementally step by step. We have further developed better than planned. We are very, very proud on our performance of the entire Galenica team. However, the most important message for you today is we're not there yet. We haven't reached the goal yet. We continue on our path differently, more agile in shorter steps but with a higher frequency. And we are really convinced that we will go a long way by pursuing that strategy. We have also made another big step in 2022 with 4.7% sales growth in 2022 despite a negative impact of 2.4% from the discontinued COVID initiatives. This is a really strong development. We've also had 2 flu peaks that was extraordinary in 1 year only, a normal flu season at the beginning of the year and a very early second peak as early as in December. Despite these 2 flu periods and just in addition Omicron infections throughout the entire year, the group has seen major sales when it comes to OTC medications. The other drivers for growth were the specialty pharmacy MediService, the expansion with new products and services like Spagyros, products from Dr. Wild and Lifestage Solutions as well as a continued good growth when it comes to wholesale business. Adjusted to corporate initiatives with a negative impact of 4.3%. Our pharmacies on site had a growth of 6.3%. That's very high. Most important was the organic growth that we've had, the expansion effect only was at 0.6%. On the one hand, the network of pharmacies with takeovers and the openings of 7 pharmacies was to be mentioned. And on the other hand, the same number of pharmacies were closed when it came to network optimization efforts. Despite the strong growth regarding cold medicines, the recap of pharmacies at high-frequency locations also contributed to this growth. Now the adverse sales results in our pharmacies and high-frequency locations has gotten smaller over time. In December, the sales was only 8% lower than the year before Corona, that is 2019 compared to minus 26% in January. We expect there to be a further normalization in the business year 2023, and we're looking forward to additional growth after the opening of the revised Amavita Bahnhof Apotheke in Zurich at the end of this year, near the train station. Despite the strong growth of 13.3%, the share of pharmacies at home grew from 26.7% to 28.8% in the overall retail sales. But the biggest share really has MediService when it comes to sales and growth with 12.9%. The specialty pharmacy has seen major growth. The Home Care business for Bichsel has seen a positive development, too, with 3.8% plus. Although at a very low level and therefore not relevant for total sales, our online sales of the web shops of Amavita and Sun Store declined by 18%. In addition to the strong comparison period of the previous year, during the pandemic, this decline can be explained by the deliberately suspended investments in the existing web shops. As Marc has already explained, we are now fully focused on the development of new digital omnichannel infrastructures. By doing so, we want to lay a solid and good foundation for the future growth of our online offering, but also for our pharmacy locations in line with our omnichannel strategy. When it comes to products and brands, thanks to these 2 flu peaks, we have seen some record results. And we could have sold even more had we always had the products available. The expansion when it comes to the products of Dr. Wild, Spagyros and Boiron has also made a contribution and contributed to our growth with 6.7%. Thanks to the portfolio focus on cold medication, Verfora with its sales growth of 15.8% has surpassed the OTC market growth by 9.5% considerably. The entire consumer health care market without COVID-19 self-tests has seen a growth rate of 6.4%. Wholesale too have seen growth, 3.4% more without COVID-19 self-tests or rapid tests, the segment in the pharmacies saw an increase in sales of 6.4%. Adjusted for a small shift in the segment reporting growth in the physician channel was at a high 7.4%. So we have gained some market share with the medical doctors. So we've seen a growth of 5.8% in that physician market. Thanks to the flu season, Omicron, the market growth have seen 10.3% growth in drugstores, and in local pharmacies, 8%. That was really high. And in the mail-order pharmacies, we see a continued focus on the high price sector. Despite the 3.7% lower volumes, we've seen a market growth of 6.6%. Let me now talk about results after having talked about sales. Considering the extraordinary result of the previous year and the difficult circumstances, considering inflation, skill shortages and high investment in digital infrastructures, we are really very happy about the EBIT reach of CHF 200.8 million considering the extraordinary contributions of CHF 25 million from COVID initiatives and CHF 9.4 million property, real estate sales. And if we adjust the EBIT of the previous year, we have a high EBIT growth of 12.4% in both segments, Products and Care and Logistics and IT. We've seen an adjustment -- adjusted 13.3% and 8.0% of EBIT growth. Now this development, this EBIT trend was held back by higher costs. Both personnel and other operating costs increased more strongly than sales. In addition to acquisition and growth-related additional costs, the higher cost growth was due to the investments in the digital omnichannel infrastructure and measures to combat the shortage of skilled workers and inflation. The operative cash flow before changes in net working capital was practically or almost the same as last year. Considering the extraordinary results of the previous year, this was a really impressive result. Net working capital, well, compared with the very low level at the end of 2021, we've seen a balance again, which explains the cash outflow of CHF 44.9 million counter movement to the extraordinary cash flow inflow of the previous year. And due to the investment in the digital omnichannel infrastructure and the continued investment in the new ERP system in logistics, these investment in intangible fixed assets compared to last year have seen a considerable increase. We have invested some CHF 20 million in financial participation, such as Well and in financing the Emeda and Coop Vitality joint ventures. The lower free cash flow compared to the dividend paid led to an increase in net debt to CHF 295 million. Leverage is still very low at 1.2x EBITDA. Galenica has a healthy balance sheet and correspondingly a high financial flexibility for the future. Now this is a really good starting position, which enables us to propose another dividend increase to the Annual General Meeting. At CHF 2.20, we will again increase the payout ratio to over 65% with now 66.30%. So let's take a look at Bern at the Federal Parliament. And there, we see that there have been some regulatory changes in Switzerland, but they always take a little longer than planned. Regarding the margin, we are still waiting for a decision on the adjusted distribution margin. And the probability that the latest proposal of the Health Ministry will be implemented and we consider that the probability is really very high. So we assume today that this adjustment of the margin will only have a minor effect on the profitability of Galenica. Overall, the margin was raised to -- well, low-priced segments, and we were reducing prices elsewhere. And given that we have already seen a difference in pricing there. So we have an adjusted service contract for the SBR and we are waiting for that in 2025. This summer, the Federal Council will also submit a draft for the liberalization of the OTC mail-order business for consultation. So in summary, for the fiscal year 2023, there will not be any significant changes in the regulatory framework. So what about the outlook? Wage increases in 2023 were roughly CHF 15 million and there was some pressure on the other costs, which will mean a main challenge for us in fiscal 2023. In addition, the results will also have a very successful fiscal 2022 by way of comparison. And nevertheless, we expect to maintain the positive growth momentum and increase both sales and EBIT by a further 3% to 6%. We are sticking to our proven dividend policy, and we expect next year's time a dividend to be at least on par with the previous year. We're proud of what we have achieved, and we are very confident that we will be able to continue the path that we have chosen. Thank you so much for your attention, and we are looking forward to any questions you might have.

[Operator Instructions]

Yes, I have a question. The offers and the pharmacies, the services. You've said 120,000 patients are covered that were served. You've helped 120,000 patients or customers, could you give us a split an overview what about vaccinations and other consultations, if you have an overview thereof. Then you also mentioned 3 health insurance companies that forbid that. Is that the basic insurance coverage or an additional coverage and so that the services mean deburdening the health sector as a whole. Would it have to be covered by the basic insurance and diagnostic tests? Would they have to be introduced in another broader realm than just focusing on COVID?

Well, let me start with the answer first, and Marc can add on to that. A split up. Well, what about the primary care services and what about vaccinations regarding the numbers. Well, we don't have these figures. But probably you've all looked at the services and all the services have seen a positive development. When it comes to the insurance companies schemes, on the one hand, there are some alternative insurance models, where you have that included and then there are additional insurance companies. So that these services can be paid out by the basic insurance companies, you would need to have a regulatory modification so that the pharmacy can reimbursed directly. The Federal Health Minister a few months back, sent a message namely that the goal must be to do it via the basic insurance coverage. And that this process takes some time, of course. But you're right. If it has a major influence and if we want to have our influence born, then we need the corresponding processes and need to be able to do so.

When it comes to the regulatory framework, a lot has to be done. But I think we also have to focus on training, on the experience of your personnel. A GP with some 20 years of experience, will probably have some experience once he sees the patient. To what degree, that's my question. To what degree will you be able to cover the point-of-care testing to be able to make good information.

Well, we don't see ourselves as a competitor to the medical -- to the GP. We are just an add-on. We could do that via the basic insurance companies, but most people are aware that they will have to pay a payout themselves. If we managed to get people more into the pharmacies for a first test, for a first clarification of what is wrong, and before we send out the patient to the GP, then we will have made a contribution to savings. But it's not about diagnosis. There are smaller services that we can deal with rather than the GP. GPs themselves, they say they would be so grateful if we could do so because there are fewer and fewer general practitioners available, and they are so happy if there is some things that -- or some parts that we can take over. There's a huge potential without having an entire infrastructure. And of course, training, that's something we invest in. But again, we have pharmacists in the pharmacies. You have a whole study course here at the university at the ETH in Zurich, where you become a pharmacist and there's a lot that we can do.

Christoph from Credit Suisse. I have a few questions, too. The first regarding the drug shortages. What about the influence on your business on the one hand, regarding the availability of medications and then profitability also. Maybe one after the other, that's easier.

Yes, that's easier. You're right. Maybe I can start by saying what about profitability? The biggest impact last year and this continues this year. The storage when it comes to products and brands where at specific times, we were just unable to supply. So we could have sold more at times, that's just the case from time to time that in individual cases, we are just not able to supply the products as demanded. On the other hand, we also benefited to a great degree in between times because the competitors have the same problems at other suppliers. And maybe you sell some products in a greater degree because the competitor cannot supply. So it's very difficult to say, net-net, what is the advantage? What is the disadvantage? But products and brands, the influence was really essential and makes life difficult. The financial impact, however, it's really difficult to count that. What about prescription drug. It's really difficult in the pharmacies that advise the council and that's really additional work, but making for a sales drop, I don't think so. We are looking for a solution to the patient. And in general, we find it. Maybe you have to order it, that's really industrious, and we don't have sufficient personnel. Sometimes it's an additional workload throughout the group, really. But I don't think that we've had a negative influence or impact on sales.

Guidance was my second question. I was positively surprised that the sales guidance that you mentioned were very positive. This also implies that there are no major margin improvements. Isn't it that case? Maybe you can comment on the growth. I see then when it came to medications, there was a negative impact by 3%, 4%. What about the current year? Is there less pressure? And when it comes to profitability, can I draw the conclusion that efficiency growth will be more difficult at this moment in time? Or does that also reflect the situation of inflation, wage adjustments and so forth?

Well, sales growth between 3% and 6%. That's the forecast. We foresee a market growth at the lower end of that spectrum of guidance leads. Market growth of some 3% is the expectation. It's always difficult to forecast, but we're very optimistic really that we will see some growth in the market around those figures. Just by way of example, in January, that's just 1 month, of course, the entire market grew by 10.7%. So the beginning of the year was very positive. We hope to have a similar situation in the rest of the year, but the lower end of the guidance, that's our expectations when it comes to market growth. We also expect some growth, thanks to our expansion. We bought the Cannaplant, the several pharmacies that were added to our list. And there were further acquisitions that we have in mind. 1% expansion-based growth. That's really what we plan for. And of course, we are thinking, well, are we convinced of our performance in wholesale, for instance, in the past years, we've gained some market share here. Marc has said so the figures show in MediService, that's a very attractive market segment where we've had some above-average growth. And we assume that organic growth will be realized here in different areas when it comes to market segments. We are very optimistic that we will more or less have that growth range of 3% to 6% as a realistic goal for this year.

You mentioned the margin, and you were correct to point out that we anticipate a stable EBIT margin. So what we anticipate is that costs will develop alongside sales. So we'll have a stable gross margin. And if you have a look at the guidance with 3.6% in sales so that tells you that cost increases will be to the same tune more or less. Then wage increases. We've published the forecasted of plus 3%. That will cost us CHF 15 million in the entire group, but we've already communicated at all times there is a certain cost pressure to add personnel in order to build up our omnichannel structures. So that's investment in employees in OpEx and CapEx at the same time. And of course, we also have the pressure of inflation.

All right. Maybe one last question. When it comes to competitors, Migros seems to be investing handsomely to also penetrate the market, at least in wholesale. What's your view on the competitive situation? And what do you think? What's the pros and cons of a competitor like that Migros versus Galenica? So what would your response look like?

Now from our point of view, the market hasn't changed too much by the acquisition that you've just mentioned. And now the cooperation used to be quite strong before. So in the supermarkets of Migros, they used to have a joint marketplace that they invested in. And the only new thing, of course, is the medical doctors, the wholesale that's changed hands. But from our point of view, the overall market hasn't changed that much. Of course Migros is a strong competitor. And of course, with they may invest and we believe that we have an excellent strategy. And if we are consistent in putting in antitrusting, we can hold our own and expand on our position in the market.

In place now a follow-up. Now on GPs in the United States, we're seeing a consolidation, for instance, so that chains of pharmacies really have tapped the family doctors markets. So what do you think about that? Is that something that we might want to replicate in Switzerland?

Yes. You can see the company you mentioned, of course, they have GP centers. They have pharmacies. For us, it's clear we want to see that separately. And so we see ourselves as partners and not as part of the company. But quite obviously, there are companies who would go down that path. We are of the firm conviction that our strategy is right for our company.

[ Annia Polman, Veraport Securities ]. Two questions that I have really. You talked about your omnichannel strategy. So more IT, you said digital services, you mentioned for the sake of the customers. Now my question basically would be what are the further activities? In your planning for digital services for the customers, would that entail say, for instance, that the customers or the patients would get a reminder on the regular basis by the pharmacy to pick up the medication or to order it, to reorder. Or would you offer digital services to the tune that the customers won't even have to come the pharmacy in person. So Tele services, media pharmacies. That would be my first question.

You gave yourself the solution, didn't you? You just said that what speaks out, or speaks to our skills because I mentioned it briefly, the customer portal that we're building and the dashboard that we're building. So say I have asthma, I have to take a certain medication. So that's part of the portal -- health insurance portal, and they turn to me as soon as my prescription runs out. So that's we're putting the customers at the center so that they may really manage their appointments, their prescriptions, their medication. We are not going to force customers to go to the pharmacies. We are customer centers. Customers will have to decide when they turn to pharmacy off-line, online or possibly via telehealth. So we want to provide the infrastructure for it. The customers need to have a good experience wherever they are. And I am absolutely convinced that customers will continue to show up in person at pharmacies, but other things could be done by video chat or online.

Now just for me, if I got that right. But that's the thing for the future, isn't it? Well, the dashboard, it's in a pilot stage, so it's already there. So we have a step-by-step expansion. For instance, I have been registered already. I have to ask my colleagues, is that internally or externally?

Both. Thank you, Thomas. So that means it does exist already. It's a typical digital development. So the product will be launched to market, will be launched to the net with first initial services and then step-by-step, we build on that and expand it. But these are the first steps.

My second question is you said that in 2022 the marketing investments were somehow reduced, given that you want to expand on your platform. I would say that if I understood that you're going to expand on marketing investments again this year, how much?

Now the online sales were mentioned by Felix. And in Switzerland, that is still a small segment, neither OTC nor prescription medicines to them are possible today. Theoretically, prescription would be possible, but OTC is not yet -- it's not yet allowed in Switzerland to do that online. So what we are investing, of course, is catering to future changes to the market. It's quite obvious that the OTC legalization online is going to come in the near future, whether that takes another 2 or 4 years, I can't tell you, but it will come our way in the coming years. So this infrastructure is not only built for sales that can be generated today, but also in the future. In 2023, we're going to launch the new platform and, of course, launch marketing investment. I wouldn't say that sales in '23 will go up massively for marketing, but they account for a very small portion of our market sales because more than 50% of our products cannot even be sold via that channel these days. And the costs, we can't give you an exact figure, but you saw the cost for last year. So you saw what we spent in terms of add-on costs more than half. Really had to do with regular mergers, acquisitions and expansions of some kind and the other half is part inflation and part building skills and competencies for the future. So just to give you a rough ballpark figure.

I'm with ZKB. Two questions. First, you mentioned talent hiring, which continues to be a topic for you. And you mentioned the new organizational structures in pharmacy in order to also build on talents. How many pharmacies have seen a rollout so far? My second question, just briefly also on investments that went up from roughly CHF 60 million to CHF 70 million really. So what would you anticipate for 2023 because the ERP investment will have concluded, of course.

Now I'd like to answer question #1. I'll leave #2 to you if that's okay. The Amavita pharmacies are seeing the rollout right now. So we've put the pedal to the metal there. It started out a few months ago. So Amavita, that's really ongoing. So we're going through the broader, more democratic structures of organization where it's no longer about higher top-down hierarchies. So -- but really distributing the roles and adding on to the roles that we have already in pharmacy to make the jobs of people more attractive so that makes for better development within our pharmacies. And we also group pharmacy families together so that we may see better cooperation, especially when we're talking about shortage of skilled labor. So we try opting for pharmacy families, you called them that you help one another maybe pass one employee to the next pharmacy. So that's what we're doing. Now on investment. Now the increase of investment from CHF 60 million to about CHF 70 million that you remarked upon, has to do with the digital omnichannel infrastructure investment. It's as simple as that. Now investment in the new ERP system, of course, we have to anticipate more investment in that chapter for '23 and '24. We expect that to conclude at the beginning of 2025. So in '23 and '24, we have further investment into that coming our way. So CHF 70 million might not be too badly a ballpark figure for that.

Stefan Schneider from Vontobel, 2 questions. The flu season last year came about 2 times. What about the beginning of this year? Do we have an above average or average flu season and then the availability of products? Where does that problem stem from it? Who do you -- how do you think it will develop in future?

Well, question of flu season. The year started very well. I told you. So at the moment, the flu season is a little higher than last year, that's better for us. Of course, not for those who suffer from the flu, the development is better. But it's not a really extreme above-average season. It's really just a good flu season. That's what we expected the first semester half year of this year. In December, it will be difficult to really surpass the previous year. That will be a challenge. But at the moment, we are quite optimistic when it comes to the question of the flu season in the first quarter of the year.

What about the supply chain problems, how did they come about?

First of all, the high level of demand that catch-up phase when it comes to demand. This is combined with supply chain problems on a global scale. It's not just a bottleneck where something is missing, where skilled workers are missing. We do have a skilled workers bottleneck certainly. But it has to do with the high demand also. That's maybe my very brief summary. It's almost comedic. It's not necessarily the medication itself. Maybe it's just the plastic tip of the plastic bottle that is missing and there is a Chinese company that does not have the opportunity to supply that very tip. So there are global problems that led to the fact that we have a supply chain problem. There are certain companies that supply certain things, and we have to shop for things on a global scale. And we need some -- well, we had some synergies in the past year, and maybe we will have to see how things develop for the coming year and hope they develop as well.

I have a question regarding the drop in prices that you have to compensate for last year. Prices were a lot higher than last year. Was that a catch-up effect? Will it be on a more normal level this year? Second question refers to MediService. Year after year, we have gigantic growth rates. Sometimes it has to do with the indications of the new companies. But what about this year? Can we expect another wonderful growth situation? Do you have an indicator when it comes to these figures? Or do you have any comparable data?

Well, maybe to the second question, MediService. They are active in a market that has seen major growth in the past years that specialty pharma market innovations in the pharmaceutical industry. And the forecasts are very positive that this market will also see above-average growth. When it comes to MediService, we have a very good market position. We are a good partner of the pharmaceutical services with the services for patients. So with the specialized doctors, they can still count on 13% of growth. But these are volatile developments. So new launches when they are available on the market, then of course, there can be some drops in sales, too. But as a general trend for the coming years when it comes to MediService, we count on above-average sales growth. And then the reduction in freight prices that were ordered from above. Well, that was not really extraordinary last year. There are always 3-year cycles where 1/3 of all the medicines are checked and the prices are lowered. And depending on the indication on the products that are being checked in 1 year, you will have higher prices or higher price reductions and in another year, maybe lower price reductions. And in the last years, it was always the influence of -- on our results was 1% to 2%, and that's really what we count on for the coming 2 years -- or for the coming years. So this is really the gist of it, that's the margin that we have in mind for the coming years.

[indiscernible] from UBS. I have a few short questions. First of all, regarding the point-of-sales network. Last year, in '22, you had a flat development. What about the coming years? When do you expect growth? Are the figures from the locations that you want to develop further, what about the figures there?

For years and years, we've had the same guidance. We plan on 5 to 15 pharmacies to be added to the network by new additions and between 5 and 15, that's really the range that we had in the past year. Sometimes at the upper end, some years at the lower end. And now plus 7 locations last year. We're still within that range, and we are quite optimistic that we will be able to manage that level in the coming years. On the other hand, every year, we are faced with pharmacies that were closed, optimized, merged, joined together with other locations to make sure that we strengthen the locations and to make them fit for the future. We've closed down 7 locations. That was a high number last year. That dynamic when it comes to network optimization, the year before, it was 5 pharmacies that we closed. And now the optimization of the network will certainly also be pursued that path in the coming years. It's not only about creating additional locations. We want better locations that are future-oriented and really optimize our network.

And the sales guidance. I just assume that this is a reported growth, not in organic growth we are talking about.

Yes, that is reported growth. Part of it is organic, part through expansion, you're right.

And to logistics and IT now, that ERP system until it's rolled out, is the margin representative of the whole situation? What about it?

Well, margin is 1.7% at the moment and in the past years, with all these COVID effects and the extraordinary effects, it was always in that range of 1.7%. 1.8%. The midterm guidance is midterm -- we want to raise it to 2%, but it's clear this increase will only be possible once the ERP project has been concluded.

Regarding the service-based remuneration, do you have any idea -- what about it in 2023?

Well, yes, in 2023, we assume that there will be a continued -- continuation -- the existing contract continues in parallel to the sales, the -- this service-based remuneration will be growing, too.

And regarding that Hauptbahnhof here, the train station location, is it fair to assume that you saw some drop in sales there? And what about the figures?

Yes, it's a fair assumption. The train station pharmacy was our biggest one, and it's no longer the biggest one in our network. And we hope that in the future, it will further develop -- redeveloped to be the biggest pharmacy. Well, the reconstruction, the new opening will -- is foreseen for the end of the year. I cannot give you the exact date, sometime in the fall or the winter, October or later. It's never so clear when it comes to historical buildings, but we are on schedule. We think that we will be able to manage our time frame and growth will be an incremental development. It will not be at the same level just on day 1, but it's a superb location. We are very optimistic that in the coming years, we will have some above average growth there. It's a wonderful pharmacy really. We really have to count on it.

I came from [indiscernible] A few questions from the same area. The health service in Switzerland is confronted with a lack of personnel of staff and the wage pressure. My feeling is it's an additional problem for the health sector in Switzerland, an additional problem one. And how do we solve that problem? You've mentioned the staff satisfaction. Can you give us some indication as to what about it? What about your wages compared with your competitors? Are there differences regarding other chains of pharmacies and then the cost block personnel, plus CHF 15 million this year. Is that sufficient? Is that your impression? Or could there be even higher costs involved at the -- throughout the course of the year? And next year, do you expect a similar increase?

Well, maybe I'll start at back. Regarding the cost, we assume that this year, they will cost about CHF 15 million, and that should suffice. When it comes to 2024, what will happen in 2024, well, that's unknown to us. It's too early to make a statement here. If I may give you an answer regarding the fluctuation range. In 2021, it rose from 11% to 14% in 2022. So we had an increase. But if we compare it with other companies, end of pandemic fluctuation really rose. All of a sudden, they were offered new positions, so that was probably the reason for the staff turnover. Maybe we could reduce it a little bit. [indiscernible] is a specialist in that field, but it's still at that level of some roughly 14% staff turnover. Well, you're mentioning a topic that not only deals with the health sector. There is not one sector that does not suffer from skilled shortages. There's the same topic everywhere. There are topics that we can influence upon, and then there are topics like the demographic development. We are not the right persons to address. What we can do, we invested a lot in our collaboration with universities, with Bern, with Zurich, with Geneva. So universities are highly contacted by us, and we try and make sure that more young people are interested in studying pharmacy -- pharmaceutical. And that's what we can make our influence born. And we want to provide attractive positions too. I mentioned that at the beginning, it's an important topic. And it's not only about our staff members, but also we have to show to society that this is something where it makes sense to invest in that we can be creative, make career paths, even if you do an apprenticeship first to be a pharmaceutical assistant first, and then you study pharmacology, that's really a good idea. It's great. We offer apprenticeships. We want to retain our skills within our company, if possible. And that's the 360-degree loop. We, of course, also lost people who did the apprenticeship with us, and they went elsewhere to the -- in the health sector. And this is something that we will have to see that young people in the pharmacies, they remain with us. That's something that we can maybe control a little bit, but we cannot really control the demographic development. That's just a fact of life. And we fight for that and that -- we fight in every branch for that. I'm very convinced even if I'm a little pessimistic here. But this is really something that we will see over the years now. This will not go away in, say, next year's time or in 2 years' time.

Are there differences regarding the wage situation?

No, not really. There are no major wage differences. Or we don't document considerably when we have 1,800 pharmacies. Galenica is one chain. There are some independent chain pharmacies. There are different chains. We really look at the HMOs or at the associations. We say we want to really make sure that we can pay the minimum that the associations suggest, and we have seen that in all the different cantons.

Are there any other questions? Are there questions from the webcast? If that's not the case, in the room? [Operator Instructions] Don't we have that question, [indiscernible] We have that question.

It is [indiscernible] .

Your question, please. There are no more questions on the webcast? So we had quite an active audience, didn't we. So is there one more question in the room, maybe? No? Then I'd like to thank you very warmly for coming here in such large numbers. We're truly happy to see you. Hope you like the surroundings and I hope that we'll have the opportunity to discuss some things. We'll stick around so please talk to us. Our colleagues from the Board are also available there in the back. So if you'd like to press them. Julian is here. Andreas Koch is there. So other colleagues of the Executive Board are here. So if there's any technical questions that you have, please turn to them. Thank you very much, and thank you for your trust and confidence in us, and we are convinced that we're going to do everything in our powers so that we may present an excellent result to you at the next year. Thank you, and have a nice day. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]