Salus, a wholesaler and retailer of medical products and devices based in Slovenia has been added to SBITOP from 21 Mar 2022. It posted 2021 results and announced dividend to be approved by the GSM on 22 April. In 2021, Salus recorded revenue growth of 14.4%, EBITDA growth of 21.8%, and a net profit of EUR 13m, an increase of 28.4% YoY.

Salus, a pharmacy company based in Slovenia, has recently been added to the SBITOP Index from the beginning of this week. It has a weight of 4.13% in the index. Salus is the distributor of medical devices and medical products operating in the entire SEE region (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and North Macedonia), with over 1,500 suppliers, 3,000 customers, 28 specialized stores, and 440 employees. The company also has 32 specialized retail stores in Slovenia and an online store with medical products and medical devices. Salus that trading as part of the index on 21 March 2022, has also posted its FY 2021 results, as well as its dividend proposal. As such, we decided to bring you an overview of their results as well as the aforementioned proposal.

In 2021, Salus recorded revenue of EUR 458.3m, an increase of 14.4% YoY. The growth in revenue was following the trend seen in the entire medicine, over-the-counter medicines, and dietary supplements market in Slovenia. According to the data from IMS (Intercontinental Medical Statistics), this market grew by 6% in 2021. At the same time, the value of medicines sold to pharmacies amounted to EUR 677.6m, a 6.8% increase YoY, while the value of medicines sold to hospitals amounted to EUR 226.6m, a 3.2% increase YoY.

With this expansion, Salus also had the aforementioned growth in revenue, as the Slovenian market has the most important share in the structure of generated revenue, amounting to 92% of the Company’s revenue. Moving over to the operating expenses, in 2021, the Company generated EUR 38.1m, an increase of 14.4% YoY.

Looking over to the EBITDA it amounted to EUR 19.7m, a growth of 21.8% YoY. This can be attributed to the increased number of products sold during the year. Finally, the net profit of the Company amounted to EUR 13m, an increase of 28.4% YoY.

Salus key financials (EUR m)

Dividend Proposal

In 2022, the proposal of the dividend is subject to approval by the GSM which will be held on 22 April 2022. Currently, the proposed amount of dividend is EUR 65 (this includes the interim dividend of EUR 30 paid in January 2022). At the current share price of EUR 1,450, the DY for the total dividend would amount to 4.48%, while the DY for the amount that remains to be paid would be 2.41%.

The ex-date is set for 4 May 2022, the record date is set for 5 May 2022, while the payment date is set for 6 May 2022. It should be noted that the above-mentioned dividend date can be changed on the basis of a counter-proposed dividend or other confirmed dividend at the GSM.

At the end of February, the NAV of Croatian mutual funds decreased by -10% MoM, amounting to HRK 18.97bn. This also wiped most of the gains on a YoY basis, which now amounts to only a 0.3% gain.

The Croatian Agency for the Supervision of Financial Institutions (HANFA) has published its monthly report on the developments in the financial markets. Since the Croatian mutual funds play a key role in the financial market, we decided to see how they performed. During February, the Croatian mutual funds had a NAV of HRK 18.97bn, a decrease of -10% MoM. This continues the negative trend in 2021, where on a YTD basis, the NAV decreased by -11.8%. Also, compared to its pre-COVID 19 maximum, the NAV is -17.8% lower.

The -10% decrease MoM can be seen across the whole variety of holdings, with bond holdings decreasing the most at HRK -1.2bn (or-10.1%) MoM, followed by deposits and cash, which decreased by HRK -425m (or -8.5%), shares, which decreased by HRK -308m (or -11.6%), and investment funds, which decreased by HRK -129.2m (or -8%) MoM. The only asset class to experience an increase on an MoM basis were receivables, which grew by HRK 305m (or by around 390%). The decrease can most certainly be attributed to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as the escalation that happened during February leading to that development.

Looking at the YoY basis, the NAV still grew slightly, increasing by HRK 51m or 0.3%. Looking at the asset classes, bonds are still the main decliners, losing HRK -1.5bn (or -12%) of their value, followed by deposits and cash, which decreased by HRK -193.6m (or -4%). Other asset classes, even with the short-term shocks caused by the aforementioned war in Ukraine, still increased, with inv. funds leading the way with an increase of HRK 668.3m (or 82%), followed by shares with HRK 489.3m (or 26%), and receivables, which increased by more than 10x (or HRK 355.9m).

One other thing that surely had an influence and will continue having an influence on the mutual fund asset structure developments is the current inflation rate, which the ECB and national central banks will have to deal with at some point, probably by raising interest rates and stopping the quantitative easing.

Meanwhile, looking over to the securities and deposits, both domestic and foreign securities and deposits decreased in February. Domestic securities and deposits decreased by HRK -1.16bn (or -10.6%) MoM, while foreign securities and deposits decreased by HRK -896.2m (or -12.4%) MoM. In total, this led to a decrease in total securities and deposits of HRK 2.05bn, or -11.3% MoM.

At the same time, looking at the asset structure of the mutual funds, bonds still remain the largest asset holding, at 53.9%, a decrease of -1 p.p. MoM and -7.3 p.p. YoY. Following them, we have shares with 11.8%, a decrease of -0.4 p.p. MoM, but an overall increase of 2.5 p.p. YoY. Next up we have investment funds at 7.4%, which remain unchanged MoM but had an increase of 3.4 p.p. YoY. The largest relative increase was experienced by the receivables, which grew by 1.6 p.p. MoM and 1.8 p.p. YoY.

Croatian mutual funds AUM structure (February 2022, %)

It should also be noted that domestic equity, which accounts for 26.3% of total equity holdings, lost 10% of its value YoY, while foreign equity holdings, which account for the remaining 73.7%, lost 23% of their value YoY. Meanwhile, net contributions also decreased by HRK -1.55bn during the month.

Total assets of all Croatian UCITS funds (2015 – February 2022, EURm)

On yesterday’s closing price, this would amount to a DY of 7.26%. Ex-date is set for 22 June 2022.

Transgaz has called the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, set for 28/29 April 2022. During the meeting, the distribution of profit in the form of dividends will be discussed. The amount that would be paid out would be RON 186.9m, amounting to a payout ratio of 98% of net profit. This would amount to a dividend of RON 15.61 per share.

At yesterday’s closing price, this would amount to a DY of 7.26%. The ex-date is set for 22 June 2022, while the payment date is set for 14 July 2022. To read more about this news, click here.