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The HARTMANN GROUP, an internationally leading medical device company.
Key figures

The HARTMANN
GROUP, an
internationally leading
medical device
company.

HARTMANN at a glance

We have offices in 36 countries around the world, but our products are available in over 130 countries through a network of distributors.

The HARTMANN GROUP is one of Europe’s leading providers of professional medical and care products and associated services.

In a world where health is becoming an increasingly important matter and is managed more professionally, we offer our customers simple and effective solutions for the benefit of the patients. We are ambitious and constantly looking for ways to improve outcomes in both the professional sector and at home. This is expressed in our brand promise of “Helps. Cares. Protects”. Our core portfolio is augmented by consumer-based medical ranges, along with care products and cosmetics.

In 2022, we employed over 10,200 staff worldwide and generated sales of EUR 2.3 billion.

The HARTMANN solutions

In compliance with internal controlling, the activities of the HARTMANN GROUP are reported in business segments. They are broken down into the focus areas of Wound Care, Incontinence Management, Infection Management and Complementary Divisions of the Group, primarily including the businesses of KNEIPP, CMC and KOB.

230217_hartmann_gb22_Umsatzanteile_Segmenten_e

Growth in the Wound Care segment

At EUR 565.2 million, sales in the Wound Care segment were EUR 72.8 million over the previous year. Organic sales growth stood at 12.1%. This growth is the result of an active pricing strategy, successful development in advanced wound care and the recovery of traditional wound care, following the coronavirus pandemic among other things.

The number of surgeries and visits to doctors and pharmacies continued to grow in the course of the year, in Europe above all, which had a positive impact on the demand for wound care products. Growth was driven, in particular, by the new ranges of silicone-covered and post-operative wound dressings, non-adhesive fixation products and Vivano® products for vacuum-assisted wound therapy.

Alongside the clear growth in sales, organizational measures to improve efficiency have helped further increase profitability in the Wound Care segment. Adjusted EBITDA rose in the reporting year by EUR 14.1 million to EUR 100.9 million.

Increase in sales in the Incontinence Management segment

Sales revenues in the Incontinence Management segment stood at EUR 720.8 million in the reporting year. The organic sales growth of 4.5% is in particular attributable to the necessary price adjustments resulting from increased costs. In addition, the volume attributable to care homes grew due to the higher bed occupancy rate. This ensures increased demand for incontinence products.

The ranges with particularly strong sales during the reporting year included both the unisex, at 8.6%, and the gender-specific disposable pants first introduced a few years ago, which were up 17.7% compared to the previous year, with incontinence pads up 5.8% and the Vala® disposable care range up 9.6%.

The reporting year was affected by considerable increases in raw material and transport costs. Cost-cutting measures and price adjustments were only able to partially compensate for these developments. Adjusted EBITDA in the Incontinence Management segment in 2022 was EUR 68.6 million, and hence EUR 19.3 million below that of the previous year.

Infection Management sales decline

The Infection Management segment reported sales revenues of EUR 557.7 million in 2022. This represents a serious decline in sales, of -18.8%, the main drivers being in the examination gloves and sanitizer ranges.
The examination gloves range suffered a fall in demand in light of the coronavirus pandemic's transition to an endemic phase. Sales in examination gloves were down due to the price drop. In surgery-related areas, kits and coverings performed positively thanks to imposed price rises and volume gains.

The clear decline in sales in the area of Disinfection Management was due to the shift away from the special pandemic-related circumstances of the preceding years. Due to customers holding high levels of stock, demand dropped for hand sanitizer in particular. In terms of income, price increases could not compensate for this development or the increased raw materials prices.

In this context, adjusted EBITDA in the Infection Management segment fell by EUR 19.6 million to EUR 17.8 million.

Diminishing results in Complementary Group Divisions

Sales revenues in the Complementary Group Divisions segment stood at EUR 467.9 million in 2022. This equates to an organic increase in sales of 4.4%. In all areas the significant cost increases led to declining business performance. At EUR 3.6 million, adjusted EBITDA for the reporting year in the Complementary Group Divisions segment was significantly below the EUR 28.7 million of the previous year.
Like the KOB Group, the CMC Group achieved organic sales growth. For CMC, this was largely as a result of an increase in the sales prices of cotton wool products, whereas for the KOB Group it was thanks to positive performance in relation to compression bandages. In 2022, the KNEIPP Group was confronted with shrinking markets in Europe and strong price pressure in the bath product categories. Here, consumers increasingly opted for cheaper products.

230217_hartmann_gb22_Anteile_Region_Gesamtumsatz_e

In its core sales market of Germany, the HARTMANN GROUP achieved sales revenues in the 2022 financial year of EUR 720.4 million. This equates to a moderate organic decline in sales of -7.5%, due to a decline in demand for PPE and sanitizer. Sales revenues in the EMEA region (Europe minus Germany, the Middle East, Africa) stood at EUR 1,371.6 million, representing organic growth of 2.0% compared to the previous year. Sales revenues in the APAC region (Asia and the Pacific region) came to EUR 144.8 million in the reporting year. Compared to the previous year this equates to organic growth of 6.1%. In the Americas, HARTMANN recorded an organic increase in sales of 7.2%, to EUR 74.8 million.

During the reporting period, the ratio of domestic to foreign sales revenue at HARTMANN moved slightly in favor of foreign sales: Germany accounted for EUR 720.4 million of the Group sales or 31.2% (33.8% the previous year). HARTMANN achieved 68.8% of Group sales abroad. This equates to a figure of EUR 1,591.2 million.

Following the pandemic-related increase in the previous year, the prices of key raw materials this year were affected by the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war. Cellulose is the raw material HARTMANN purchases in the greatest volume. The price of fluff pulp grew continuously until July 2022 and then stabilized at the high level of USD 2,230/mt, before falling to USD 2,190/mt at year end. This meant the price at year end was USD 550 above the rate of USD 1,640/mt at the end of the previous year. The prices of polymers such as polyethylene and polypropylene affected by the oil price also reached record highs in 2022. At the same time, prices were subject to high fluctuation. The polymer prices rose continuously until the beginning of the second quarter. There was then movement in the opposite direction, with price decreases. The US dollar, which was on average significantly stronger during the year, made up for price downturns, and purchase costs remained high. Fixed-price contracts and associated hedging instruments also had a supportive effect.

Performance indicators

The various commercial and geopolitical challenges during the 2022 financial year had a significant impact on the business performance of the HARTMANN GROUP. In particular, the higher costs of materials, logistics and energy had a negative effect across all segments. As planned, the Transformation Program made a noticeable and positive contribution to the Group's profitability, thereby addressing the opportunities and the challenges of the health care market, as well as measures to improve results.

Combined with the disruptions to supply chains and the existing and additional infection-related staff shortages in the health sector, higher costs had a negative impact on business performance during the reporting year. Targeted price adjustments have enabled HARTMANN to partially compensate for these developments. The product launches as part of the Transformation Program have had a positive effect.

In order to manage the growth in sales revenues and for the purpose of transparent communication, HARTMANN uses organic sales growth as its central sales performance metric. Overall, the HARTMANN GROUP recorded a slight organic decline in sales of -0.8% during the reporting year. Since price increases were successfully passed on to customers, the organic decline in sales was only slight. At the time of the forecast in the 2021 annual report, a moderate decline in sales was still anticipated.

In 2022, consolidated sales of the HARTMANN GROUP across all business segments amounted to EUR 2,311.6 million. Compared to the previous year, this equates to an increase of 0.4%. Acquisitions/divestments had no impact on the HARTMANN GROUP's overall growth while the currency impact was +1.2%.

During the reporting year, adjusted EBITDA stood at EUR 190.8 million compared to EUR 240.6 million the previous year, and was therefore at the lower limit of the Outlook published in the 2021 annual report and within the reported range as specified in December 2022. The adjusted EBITDA return fell from 10.5% in 2021 to 8.3% in the reporting year. The reason for this was primarily the increases in material and freight costs, which could only partially be passed on, and costs associated with higher stock-in-trade and warehousing costs. On the other hand, the Transformation Program, which is focused, among other things, on cost reductions and efficiency improvements, contributed about EUR 40 million to the Company's profitability over the financial year.

During the 2022 financial year, HARTMANN made adjustments to its operational results. Restructuring costs of EUR 1.6 million were incurred as part of the focus on strategy. These were largely incurred by the relocation of production in the Wound Care segment and location optimization at KNEIPP. Other adjustments of EUR 24.2 million were incurred, among other things, in light of digital initiatives for the future (SAP® S/4 HANA) and pending litigation relating to circumstances from previous financial years.

The HARTMANN GROUP's EBITDA for the reporting year comes to EUR 165.0 million (previous year: EUR 232.9 million). The financial result declined from minus EUR 0.2 million in 2021 to minus EUR 2.8 million. Income tax expense during the reporting period amounted to EUR 21.1 million, whereas in 2021 it had been EUR 38.1 million. Compared to the previous year, consolidated net income declined by EUR 57.6 million to EUR 39.5 million.

in EUR thousand20212022Change compared to prior year in %
Earnings
Sales revenues2,301.769
2,311.60.4
Of which outside Germany in %66.268.82.6 *
Consolidated net income97,09839,475– 59.3
Net return on sales in % 4.21.7– 2.5 *
Cost of materials1,012.9461,056.8024.3
Personnel expense613,451611,570– 0.3
Adjusted EBITDA240,558190,838– 20.7
Return on adjusted EBITDA in %10.58.3– 2.2 *
Depreciation/amortization on tangible and intangible assets97,506
101,650
4.3
EBIT135,38963,397– 53.2
Return on EBIT in %5.92.7– 3.2 *
Free-Cash-Flow3,543
–115,107
n.a.
Balance Sheet
Balance sheet total1,825.0472,006.4779.9
Non-current assets835,567
900,815
7.8
Investments in tangible and intangible assets 1)154,177
180,966
17.4
Current assets989.4801,105,66211.7
Equity capital and reserves1,092,995 1.128.6633.3
Equity/asset ratio in %59.956.3
– 3,6 *
Return on equity in %8.93.5– 5.4 *
Net Financial Status80,557
–140.919– 274.9
Employees as at Dec. 31 2)10,62810.290– 3,18

* Change in percentage points

1) Excluding investments from acquisitions such as goodwill

2) Excluding staff on parental leave and PAUL HARTMANN AG Management Board members