MADRID (Reuters) – Grifols shares soared in early trading on Thursday after the Spanish drugmaker upgraded its annual profit outlook following a strong quarter.
Grifols, which posted a third-quarter net profit of 60 million euros ($63.64 million) from a loss in the first half of the year, raised its 2023 guidance for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to 1.45 billion euros from range of 1.40-1.45 billion previously.
Its shares were up 9.7% in early trading while the blue-chip IBEX-25 index was up 1.1%.
The company, which uses blood plasma to make medicines, posted a nine-month net profit of 3.3 million euros, while its adjusted EBITDA reached 1.03 billion euros.
Grifols said it managed to cut the cost of collecting plasma by 22% as of September 2023 versus its peak in July 2022.
It said it expects to close the $1.5 billion sale of a stake in Shanghai RAAS in the first half of 2024. The deal was announced in July.
($1 = 0.9435 euros)
(This story has been corrected to compare with the first half of 2023, not a year earlier, in paragraph 2, and to say 3.3 million euros, not 48 million euros, in paragraph 4)
(Reporting by Marta Serafinko; editing by Inti Landauro and Jason Neely)
