BAD HOMBURG, Germany—Fresenius Medicare Care AG said Feb. 19 that its fourth-quarter profit rose 8.6 percent in 2008 due to an increase in dialysis treatments and product sales.
In the last quarter of 2008, Fresenius reported a net income of $214 million, or 72 cents per share, compared to $197 million, or 67 cents per share, for the same period in 2007. The dialysis company’s fourth-quarter sales increased 5.9 percent to $2.72 billion from $2.57 billion.
At the end of 2008, Fresenius treated 184,086 patients worldwide, a 6 percent increase over the previous year, in 2,388 clinics. That includes 125,857 North American patients, an increase of 4 percent over 2007, in 1,718 clinics.
In 2008, Fresenius delivered 27.87 million dialysis treatments worldwide, a 5 percent increase over 2007. In North America, the company’s largest market, it delivered 19.15 million treatments, which was a 4 percent increase.
In the fourth quarter of 2008, the average revenue per treatment in U.S. clinics increased 3 percent to $335 compared to $325 the same time last year, largely because of higher reimbursement from private insurers.
Fresenius said its North American dialysis product revenue increased 22 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 to $220 million because of strong sales of renal drugs, dialyzers and concentrates.
For the year, Fresenius reported a 14 percent increase in overall profit to $818 million, or $2.75 per share, compared to $717 million, or $2.43 per share, in 2007. Fresenius’ 2008 revenue increased 9.2 percent to $10.6 billion over $9.7 billion in 2007.
“With this performance we clearly achieved our guidance for 2008 and are proposing to deliver our twelfth consecutive dividend increase to our shareholders,” said Ben Lipps, CEO of Fresenius Medical Care. “In 2008 our company continued with investments in future growth by expanding the clinic network and production capacities as well as research and development activities. With this capacity and the continued strong demand for our high quality products and services, we expect 2009 to be another record year for the company.”
In 2009, Fresenius expects revenue of $11.1 billion, and a profit between $850 million and $890 million.
