Boehringer Ingelheim posts financial year 2016 report

Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) generated net sales of around 15.9 billion euros, representing an increase of 7.3 per cent in currency-adjusted terms (+7.1 per cent in euro terms) in 2016. Since operating income improved by 27 per cent to around 2.9 billion euros, the return on net sales came to 18.1 per cent. BI in 2016 employed an average of almost 45,700 people around the world. The acquisition of Sanofi’s animal health business, Merial, on January 1, 2017 as part of a business swap increased the workforce to some 50,000.

Overall, net sales of prescription medicines – BI’s largest business – increased by 7.4 per cent in currency-adjusted terms to around 12 billion euros (+7.5 per cent in euro terms). With net sales of just under three billion euros, the respiratory medication Spiriva remains the best-selling medicine.

With biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing, BI last year generated net sales of 613 million euros. Growth amounted to 6.4 per cent.

The consumer healthcare business contributed to the company’s net sales for the last time in 2016, as it became part of Sanofi on January 1, 2017. BI generated net sales of around 1.6 billion euros in this area last year, accounting for almost ten per cent of its total net sales.

BI’s total net sales for 2016 do not include the net sales of Sanofi’s animal health business, as it was only integrated as of January 1,2017. BI generated around 1.5 billion euros in net sales from its traditional animal health portfolio in 2016, accounting for more than nine per cent of its total net sales. The strongest brand was once again the swine vaccine Ingelvac Circoflex.

Net sales increased in all businesses. "Both our human pharmaceuticals as well as our animal health medications contributed to our positive business performance with good growth rates," explained Hubertus von Baumbach, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors, at the annual press conference today. "We look to the future with confidence – especially after successfully completing the transformation of our business."

"The increase in net sales in 2016 exceeded our expectations," Simone Menne, Member of the Board of Managing Directors responsible for Finance, underlined. "This was due to the successful placement of our innovative products and to the good market position of our established medicines." Furthermore, the receipt of a payment agreed within the scope of a cooperation with AbbVie in the field of immune diseases contributed to this good performance.

Over the longer term, BI is increasingly turning to partnerships with universities, scientific institutes and biotech companies. "Our commitment to research and development is an important pillar of our strategy," von Baumbach confirmed. In 2016, the company increased its research and development expenses once again by four per cent to some 3.1 billion euros.

For the current year, BI is expecting a considerable year-on-year increase in currency-adjusted net sales.