By Isabel Demetz and Patricia Weiss
(Reuters) – The world’s largest dialysis specialist Fresenius Medical Care topped market expectation for its fourth quarter results on Tuesday, helped by positive development across its businesses.
The results were boosted by positive volume and pricing effects, as well as savings from its FME25 turnaround program and portfolio optimization plan, FMC said.
“The momentum we have created enables us to further raise our FME25 savings target,” CEO Helen Giza said in a statement.
FMC expects to save 750 million euros ($785 million) by the end of 2025 under the plan first announced in 2021, up from the previous 650 million euro goal.
The German company’s adjusted operating income grew 31% to 489 million euros ($512.3 million) in the final quarter of 2024, ahead of analysts’ average estimate of 481 million euros.
The adjusted figure is based on constant exchange rates and excludes the impact from divestitures closed in 2023 and special items such as costs related to the FME25 plan and the change in FMC’s legal form, it said.
Including those effects, the quarterly operating income fell by 39%.
FMC, which makes the bulk of its sales in the U.S., said it was expecting same market treatment growth in the United States to be above 0.5% in 2025, compared with 0.1% growth last year.
“We’re still dealing with elevated mortality rates,” Giza said in a press conference.
FMC was hit hard by the high rate of COVID-19 deaths among its patients. That excess mortality is still slightly elevated in the U.S., while in Europe it is back to pre-pandemic levels.
The company also said it expected 2025 revenue to grow at a low single digit percentage rate and adjusted operating income to rise by a high teens to high twenties percentage, both in constant currency.
Based on this, FMC narrowed its operating margin guidance for the year to a range of 11% to 12%, from the previously expected 10% to 14%.
($1 = 0.9553 euros)
(Reporting by Isabel Demetz in Gdansk and Patricia Weiß in Frankfurt; Editing by Milla Nissi)
