Novonesis reports 8% organic sales growth in full year 2024

DENMARK – Bagsværd-based Novonesis, a global biotechnology company, has reported 8% organic sales growth in 2024, amounting to EUR 3,833.5 billion (US$3987.91 billion), an increase of 60% compared to 2023.

Emerging markets grew by 12% organically, and developed markets increased by 7%.

The gross margin was 47.2%. Excluding the PPA inventory step-up, depreciation, and amortisation, it was 56.8%, an increase from 54.3% in 2023.

The increase compared to 2023 was related to the lower cost of raw materials and logistics costs.

Operating costs totaled EUR 1,178.7 million (US$1226.18 million), an increase of EUR 461.9 million (US$480.51 million) compared to last year.

Special items amounted to EUR 158.0 million (US$164.36 million) in 2024 and included items related to transaction and integration costs for the combination.

Depreciation and amortisation, including impairment losses, amounted to EUR 597.4(US$618.65)   million in 2024, compared to EUR 186.4 million (US$193.91 million) in 2023.

Adjusted EBITDA was EUR 1,387.0 billion (US$1442.87 billion) in 2024, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 36.2%, compared to EUR 797.3 million (US$829.41 million) and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 33.2% in 2023.

Net financials were negative EUR 80.4 million (US$83.64 million) in 2024. This represents an increased cost of EUR 73.9 million (US$76.88 million) compared to last year. The increase was mainly due to higher interest costs.

Ester Baiget, President and CEO, said, “2024 has been a truly remarkable year. While bringing together two extraordinary companies creating Novonesis, we’ve delivered strong performance across the business. I’m very pleased with our results featuring an 8% organic sales growth and a 36.1% adjusted EBITDA margin.

“These numbers show the strength of our diversified portfolio and our ability to seize opportunities across industries and markets, even in times of global uncertainty. Looking ahead to 2025, we’re perfectly positioned to accelerate our growth and expand margins even further.”

She also mentioned that they created Novonesis, the world’s leading biosolutions partner one year prior which now operates as a unified entity with 10,000 dedicated colleagues working daily to improve the world using biology.

She expressed that Novonesis is uniquely equipped to tackle both their customers’ and some of the world’s most pressing challenges through the power of biosolutions.

In Food & Beverages, organic pro forma sales grew by 8% in 2024, and sales in EUR were up 2%. The merger-related divestment of part of the lactase enzyme business had a negative four percentage point impact.

The organic performance was driven by strong growth in dairy and solid growth across remaining subareas, which was supported by pricing.

Growth in Dairy was supported by both cheese and fresh dairy, driven by upselling, strong customer adoption of innovation, and conversion in cheese.

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