Straumann posts record earnings in 2004

Moulding molars has brought double-digit growth for the company Keystone

The Straumann dental implant company has reported a record net profit of SFr101 million ($85.1 million) in 2004, up 24 per cent on the previous year’s performance.

Sales rose by 22.2 per cent to SFr420.3 million, spurred by greater penetration in the United States market, the Basel-based company announced on Thursday.

Operating profit at Straumann, which is also active in the tissue regeneration market, was SFr129.4 million.

In a statement, the company said that it was proposing a dividend up by 29 per cent from the previous year to SFr2 per share.

In Germany, where Straumann is market leader, the firm said sales slowed in the second half, due to patients postponing treatment in order to benefit from a new reimbursement scheme in 2005.

Expansion programme

The statement commented that in the US, the firm’s key growth market, the group pursued its expansion programme and succeeded in moving up to the number two rank based on reported and estimated sales.

In terms of market share, Straumann is behind Swiss rival Nobel Biocare, which last week beat market expectations when it posted a 22 per cent rise in 2004 sales.

Straumann said it intended to continue growing faster than the dental implant and tissue regeneration market and to expand its market share.

It added that it expected 2005 sales to grow in the region of 20 per cent, with operating and net profit margins expanding by about one percentage point.

swissinfo with agencies

Key facts

Financial results 2004

Net profit: SFr101 million (up from SFr80.3 million in 2003)
Net revenues: SFr420.3 million
Earnings per share : SFr6.44
Proposed dividend: SFr2

In brief

The company is expanding its activities rapidly, creating 200 jobs in 2004. The total workforce at Straumann at the end of last year was 1,104.

At the end of 2004, the company moved its global headquarters to a new site in the city of Basel.

By mid 2005, the firm’s North American headquarters will transfer from Waltham, MA, to Andover near Boston.