January-June 2014

The Group’s net sales reached SEK 6,842 million (6,478), corresponding to an increase of 6% or an organic growth[1] of 4% compared to the previous year.
EBITDA amounted to SEK 2,003 million (1,845), corresponding to a 29.3% margin (28.5).
Operating profit totaled SEK 888 million (765).
Profit after tax amounted to SEK 503 million (400).
Earnings per share reached SEK 1.66 (1.34).
Cash earnings per share amounted to SEK 4.14 (3.81).

Second quarter 2014

The Group’s net sales reached SEK 3,477 million (3,279), corresponding to an increase of 6% or an organic growth[1] of 4% compared to the previous year.
EBITDA was SEK 993 million (922), yielding a 28.6% margin (28.1).
Operating profit totaled SEK 426 million (381).
Profit after tax amounted to SEK 243 million (192).
Earnings per share reached SEK 0.80 (0.64).
Cash earnings per share amounted to SEK 2.17 (2.04).

1) Organic growth: Sales growth adjusted for currency effects, acquisitions, disposed operations and revenues from the cooperation agreement with Valeant.

CEO statement

I am satisfied with our performance during the second quarter as we have continued to deliver healthy organic growth. Sales were up 6% in the second quarter, corresponding to organic growth of 4%. The EBITDA margin was 28.6% in Q2 and 29.3% for the first half year 2014. This is an improvement of 0.8%-points compared to the same period last year.

Dymista continues to make the strongest contribution to growth, with a positive trend in both the US and Europe in the second quarter. In Europe, we were able to achieve substantially increased market shares in virtually all markets after a strong allergy season. In the US, this year's allergy season was weaker, despite that Dymista strengthened its position in the market in the second quarter.

Also Emerging Markets contributed significantly to Meda’s growth in the quarter with organic growth of 26%, primarily driven by Russia, Turkey, and China. Several markets in Eastern Europe, including Hungary and Slovakia, also saw positive development in the quarter, along with smaller markets where we have recently established ourselves, such as South Africa. As we have previously highlighted, we continue to expect the rate of growth on Emerging Markets to fluctuate and vary between regions, markets, and quarters.

We are now beginning to discern the impact of measures we took within the OTC business area, which is pleasing. In the second quarter, organic growth amounted to 5%. We continue to focus our efforts on the programs we implemented to strengthen and build our brands in the long term.

Sales increased by 5% in Western Europe with an organic growth of about 1%. During the quarter especially the Nordic countries and Southern Europe developed well. Both Italy and Spain continued to show positive growth.

The US had a weak second quarter and reported a negative organic growth of 2%, primarily due to sales of Astepro weakened due to the launch at risk of a generic in the quarter. This could not be offset by the positive development of Dymista.

In 2011, Meda acquired the global sales rights to Elidel from Novartis. Since then our studies have revealed that Elidel is an effective, safe and well-positioned product in the treatment of atopic dermatitis, which has boosted the product’s sales trend. During the second quarter there have been manufacturing problems, which have affected delivery capacity, e.g.in the Middle East. At this point in time we are unable to say with any certainty when these problems will be resolved.

On July 31, we announced the acquisition of Italian Rottapharm. The acquisition is strategically important as it strengthens our position within Cx / OTC and Emerging Markets and strengthens our future cash flow. In this way, we create a platform for further growth, both organically and through acquisitions. It shows our ability to pursue an active acquisition strategy in order to create shareholder value.

Provided the transaction is completed as planned at the start of October 2014, Meda expects sales for full-year 2014 of around SEK 15 billion, and the EBITDA margin to be in line with last year (excluding integration costs and other costs associated with the transaction). This corresponds to an expected organic growth for Meda standalone of 2-3% in 2014.

Jörg-Thomas Dierks

CEO

Webcasted presentation of the report on August 13 at 10:30 a.m.
The presentation can be accessed at www.meda.se/Investors/, where a recorded version will also be available until the next interim report is presented.

For further inquiries, please contact:
Paula Treutiger, Investor Relations, paula.treutiger@meda.se, +46 733-666 599.

Interim Report, January-June 2014