Services

The Services segment comprises logistics services for the Swiss healthcare market from Alloga (pre-wholesale), Galexis, Unione Farmaceutica Distribuzione and Pharmapool (wholesale), as well as Medifilm, which is active in drug blister packaging. These are complemented by services from HCI Solutions, which provides master data for the Swiss healthcare market and offers management software solutions for pharmacies. HCI Solutions also develops tools to securely manage, communicate and distribute sensitive health data and improve patient safety.

The Services segment generated net sales of CHF 2,441.0 million in 2019, an increase of 2.9% compared to the previous year. The good sales performance is particularly pleasing given that the federal price reduction measures mandated in 2018 and 2019 continued to impact negatively on sales in the Services segment in the year under review. Excluding the effect of these price reductions for medications by the authorities (-2.3%), sales development for the segment would have amounted to 5.2%.

This was achieved in an overall market whose growth of 2.8% (IQVIA, Pharmaceutical Market Switzerland 2019) was driven especially by the positive sales performance of hospitals of 6.1% (IQVIA, Pharmaceutical Market Switzerland 2019) and high-priced special medications. The latter are usually not supplied via wholesale but directly to hospitals and specialist doctors (doctors: +5.5%, IQVIA, Pharmaceutical Market Switzerland 2019).

The adjusted¹⁾ operating result (EBIT), i.e. excluding the effects of the new lease accounting standard IFRS 16, was CHF 44.7 million (+1.1%). However, the first-time adoption of IFRS 16 in financial year 2019 had with CHF 0.1 million no significant effect on the EBIT of CHF 44.8 million (2018: CHF 44.2 million) of the Services segment.

Adjusted¹⁾ return on sales (ROS) was 1.8% (previous year: 1.9%). Investments by Services in financial year 2019 totalled CHF 31.0 million (previous year: CHF 36.1 million) and were used in particular for the gradual roll-out and implementation of the new enterprise resource planning (ERP) software at Alloga and for the modernisation and renovation of the Galexis distribution centre in Lausanne-Ecublens.

^{1)See chapter Alternative performance measures from page 92 onwards in the 2019 Annual report (full version)}