Gerresheimer expects sales boost from burgeoning obesity drugs sector

By Louis van Boxel-Woolf

(Reuters) -German packaging and medical equipment maker Gerresheimer expects diabetes and diet drugs to contribute 350 million euros ($376 million) of annual revenue by the 2026/27 financial year, CFO Bernd Metzner told Reuters after the company reported first-quarter results on Thursday.

Obesity drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Zepbound are administered by injector pens such as those made by Gerresheimer. Shares in Swiss rival Ypsomed surged in September after it announced a contract with Novo Nordisk for the "autoinjectors".

Analyst Victoria Lambert at Berenberg said the target seemed realistic given Gerresheimer's production ramp-ups and contracts won so far, half of which were likely to cover Novo Nordisk's GLP-1 agonist Cagrisema.

Gerresheimer's first-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 3.7% year on year at 80.9 million euros ($86.9 million), matching the expectations of analysts polled by Vara Research.

The plastics and devices business, which makes syringes, inhalers and injector pens, was up 26.5% at 59.3 million euros, thanks to higher sales and a profit margin that improved to 22.9% from 20.5% a year earlier.

Core profit at the glass packaging division, however, fell 14.5% to 34.8 million euros as destocking by pharmaceutical customers weighed on demand.

Gerresheimer reiterated the guidance it had issued at full-year results in February, confirming that it expects core profit of between 430 and 450 million euros for the year.

($1 = 0.9311 euros)

(Reporting by Louis van Boxel-Woolf and Isabel DemetzAdditional Reporting by Isabel Demetz and Anneli PalmenEditing by Kim Coghill, Varun H K, David Goodman and Kevin Liffey)