Labtech

Companies in the Labtech business are active in the market areas diagnostics, biomedical research and laboratory equipment.

For the quarter, Labtech’s net sales increased by 11 percent to SEK 872 m (786). The organic sales growth, excluding COVID-19 related sales, amounted to 9 percent. Net sales related to COVID-19 has now ceased and is reported as SEK 0 m (36). Exchange rate changes had positive impact of 7 percent on net sales. EBITA amounted to SEK 107 m (117), corresponding to an EBITA-margin of 12.2 percent (14.9).

Labtech’s net sales decreased by 14 percent in the interim period to SEK 1,777 m (2,066), where of organic sales, excluding COVID-19 related sales, increased to 10 percent and acquired growth was 1 percent. Net sales related to COVID-19 has now ceased and is reported as SEK 0 m (546). Exchange rate changes had positive impact of 4 percent on net sales. EBITA decreased by 46 percent to SEK 222 m (413), corresponding to an EBITA-margin of 12.5 percent (20.0).

Labtech showed solid growth and thanks to ongoing work with prices, product mix and costs, the margin is above the 10-12% level that prevailed before the pandemic. 

Diagnostics continues to grow, driven by increased hospital activity in general, along with new tenders and product launches. The teams are continuously working on price negotiations and preparations for expected new tenders. The product portfolio is constantly growing and evolving and during the second quarter new products for Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) have been added. NGS is one of the prioritised growth areas in Labtech and the technology is increasingly used in areas such as cancer diagnostics. 

In the biomedicine and research market segment, growth in the quarter was strong. In some countries, slightly more cautious purchasing behaviour from academic research customers has been noted. In particular, we can see a slowdown in major capital investments, while sales of consumables continue with unabated strength. In other countries, research initiatives have been launched, while promises to maintain and increase research funding have been communicated. However, for industrial customers (mainly pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, chemicals and metals), activity is increasing, thereby offsetting the caution in academic research.