Zur Rose Group: steady growth in a volatile market environment

EQS-News: Zur Rose Group AG / Key word(s): Development of Sales
20.01.2022 / 07:00

Zur Rose Group: steady growth in a volatile market environment

- Revenue outlook for financial year 2021 achieved

- Focus for 2022 on rolling out e-prescriptions in Germany

- DocMorris cooperating with over 200 pharmacies and expanding same-day delivery offering

- Solid growth in the Switzerland segment; wholesaling to practitioners the main driver

- Roche becomes a further strategic partner in the healthcare ecosystem

- Medium-term growth targets unchanged

The Zur Rose Group achieved the revenue outlook for financial year 2021, which had been cut in October because of the pandemic. External revenue rose to CHF 2,034.1 million, equivalent to growth of 15.5 per cent in Group currency terms or 14.8 per cent in local currency terms. By the end of 2021 the number of active customers had risen by 18 per cent year on year to 12.4 million, a gain of around 300,000 on the quarter.

Sustained growth in Germany
In Germany the Zur Rose Group posted a considerable rise in external revenue in 2021, up 19.4 per cent in local currency terms. The increase is mainly due to the online business in non-prescription drugs and healthcare products, which more than made up for the slight decline in revenue from prescription drugs on a paper prescription. Growth continued in the fourth quarter too, rising 6.8 per cent in local currency terms; this is now without the acquisition effect from Apotal, which has been consolidated since mid-August 2020.

Pleasing performance in Switzerland
Revenue in the Swiss business continued to show a positive performance, with growth of 7.0 per cent in the fourth quarter and 5.7 per cent in 2021 as a whole. One of the main drivers was wholesaling to practitioners (Professional Services), where further automation in the supply chain allowed greater productivity. Zur Rose continued to expand digital services both for doctors' practices and in the B2C business. The increased shift towards digitalisation as a result of the pandemic was apparent in the growth of the online pharmacy, and highlights patients' growing need to order their medications to be delivered directly to their homes. Strong growth was also seen in Specialty Care, which provides specialist assistance for complex medication treatments, and in the Zur Rose webshop for beauty and personal care products.

Continued growth in Europe
In the Europe segment, which currently covers Spain and France, the Zur Rose Group continued to report attractive revenue growth of 27.7 per cent in the fourth quarter and 22.3 per cent for the full year 2021 (in local currency terms). In November the Group expanded its product range in France on DocMorris.fr by adding non-prescription (OTC) drugs through a strategic partner. The services offered and brand image are being accompanied by a multimedia campaign. The intention is to extend the service offering at a later stage through a partnership in telemedicine.

Focus for 2022 on rolling out e-prescriptions in Germany
In response to feedback from service providers and funding agencies on the technical process for electronic prescriptions, at the end of 2021 the Federal Ministry of Health (FMH) announced that it will be continuing and extending the controlled test and pilot operations beyond 1 January 2022 in stages. The aim is to reach a binding agreement with all parties concerned in the coming weeks on the specific way ahead and mutual obligations until e-prescriptions are launched in Germany, which is required by law. Like all other stakeholders, the Zur Rose Group expects the binding schedule to be announced as soon as possible.

DocMorris expands same-day deliveries from partner pharmacies
Zur Rose is also well placed in Germany as regards the performance of the DocMorris healthcare platform. At the beginning of January 2022, the DocMorris app has already reached the million download mark, making it one of the fastest-growing healthcare apps in the German market. As a result of the integration of the DocMorris Express marketplace, which now comprises a network of just over 200 partner pharmacies and their services, customers in many large cities in Germany also have the option of same-day express delivery when ordering their medications and healthcare products.

Another key partnership for innovative treatment journeys for people with chronic conditions
The Zur Rose Group is continuing to expand the European healthcare ecosystem under the DocMorris umbrella brand. The 'health in-one-click' vision of the Group is focusing on the most important chronic conditions, including diabetes and obesity. In order to offer customer-focused health journeys to people living with these conditions, Zur Rose Group entered into another strategic partnership with Roche Diabetes Care in October 2021 following Novo Nordisk collaboration. People with diabetes will have convenient digital access to disease information, best-in-class care, medication and therapy management options. Further collaborations are planned for 2022 to offer additional seamless and personalised health journeys.

Outlook
Relying on the announcements to date from the Federal Ministry of Health about the delay in the mandatory introduction of electronic prescriptions, and its acceleration as set down in the coalition agreement, the Zur Rose Group still assumes the roll-out will occur in Germany in 2022. Based on this assumption, there is no change to the medium-term growth targets. The Group also confirms the medium-term EBITDA margin target of around 8 per cent.

The Annual Report 2021 will be published on 24 March 2022.

External revenue consists of the consolidated revenue of the Zur Rose Group plus online revenues of pharmacies supplied by the Zur Rose Group, less the consolidated revenue from supplying them. The definition was slightly revised in 2021 and the figures for the previous year restated accordingly.

Investors and analyst contact
Christoph Herrmann, Head of Investor Relations
Email: ir@zurrose.com, phone: +41 58 810 11 49

Media contact
Lisa Lüthi, Head of Group Communications
Email: media@zurrose.com, phone: +41 52 724 08 14

Agenda
24 March 2022 2021 Full-Year Results
20 April 2022 First Quarter Trading Update
28 April 2022 Annual General Meeting

Zur Rose Group
The Swiss Zur Rose Group is Europe's largest e-commerce pharmacy and one of the leading medical wholesalers in Switzerland. It also operates the leading marketplace in southern Europe for consumer health, beauty and personal care products commonly sold in pharmacies. The company is internationally present with strong brands, including Germany's best-known pharmacy brand, DocMorris, and employs more than 2,200 people at sites in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and France. Now serving more than 12 million active customers in core European markets, Zur Rose generated external revenue of CHF 2,034 million in 2021.

With its business model, the Zur Rose Group offers high-quality, safe and cost-effective pharmaceutical care. It also excels in continuous development of digital healthcare services and as a platform technology provider. In addition, Zur Rose is actively driving forward its positioning as a comprehensive healthcare service provider, with focus on building up its European healthcare ecosystem networking qualified providers of products, services and digital solutions. Zur Rose's contribution will be to bring these offerings to customers and patients, pursuing its vision of creating a world where people can manage their own health in one click.

The shares of Zur Rose Group AG are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (securities number 4261528, ISIN CH0042615283, ticker ROSE). For further information, please visit zurrosegroup.com.

End of Media Release