Uniphar Share News (UPR)

(Sharecast News) - Healthcare services business Uniphar reported a strong trading performance for the year ended 31 December in an update on Tuesday, in line with expectations.

The AIM-traded company said it delivered over 8% organic gross profit growth and a 12% increase in adjusted earnings per share, while achieving normalised free cash flow conversion above its medium-term guidance.

Its net debt-to-EBITDA ratio stood at 1.5x at year-end, lower than projected, reflecting its strong liquidity position and financial discipline.

Looking ahead, Uniphar said it expected to achieve further organic gross profit growth across all divisions in 2025, aligned with its medium-term targets.

Growth was anticipated to be in the double digits for Uniphar Pharma, high single digits for Uniphar Medtech, and low single digits for the supply chain and retail division.

Mergers and acquisitions remained a core component of Uniphar's growth strategy, the board said.

It said it was maintaining a disciplined approach to capital allocation, and was actively managing a pipeline of acquisition opportunities to support its expansion.

The company said it would release its audited full-year results for 2024 on 11 March.

"2024 was a great year for Uniphar, with all our divisions contributing to excellent organic growth," said chief executive officer Ger Rabbette.

"The results show the positive impact that our strategy is having on our ability to grow at pace organically."

Rabbette noted that the company had now delivered a five-year earnings per share compound annual growth rate of over 15%.

"Based on our 2024 results, we are even more confident of reaching our €200m EBITDA target over the medium-term, with at least 80% of our growth being organic."

At 1216 GMT, shares in Uniphar were up 6.18% at 189p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.