Growth plans begin to deliver at medical equipment manufacturer
Med tech group, Smith & Nephew, says it finished 2022 with good momentum, recording group revenues of $5.2bn/£4.3bn (2021: $5.2bn/£4.3bn), up 4.7% on an underlying basis for the full year ended 31 December 2022.
For the same period the Hull-based group also reports pre-tax profits of $235m/£196m (2021: $586m/£488m) and a trading profit of $901m/£751m (2021: $936m/£780m).
For 2023 underlying revenue growth for the group is expected in the range of 5% to 6%, with a trading profit margin expected to be at least 17.5%.
Deepak Nath, chief executive officer, said: “We made good progress during 2022 and ended the year in a much stronger position than we started.
“We continued to outperform in Sports Medicine & ENT and Advanced Wound Management and, even though we are early in our work to fix Orthopaedics, performance improved here too.
“With our 12-point plan, we are fundamentally changing the way Smith+Nephew operates to drive higher growth and improve productivity.
“We will continue to face macroeconomic headwinds in 2023. However, I believe the drivers of further growth are in place, including leading technologies across all three franchises and a clear path to improved execution in Orthopaedics.”
Smith & Nephew notes that its Orthopaedics division performance has been held back in recent years by “poor operational systems and commercial execution.”
The group explains that through its 12-point plan it is dealing with these challenges by improving logistics and updating its demand and supply planning process. Commercially, the group says it is focused on winning share with its current portfolio through greater focus on differentiated products and procedural innovations.
Smith & Nephew says it expects the first quarter of 2023 to be impacted by the renewed Covid-19 waves in China reducing surgical-volumes. But it expects the business to accelerate from the second quarter for the remainder of the year.
