The CPH Group increased its sales to CHF 334 million in the 2025 financial year, but suffered a decline in earnings. Performance was adversely affected by geopolitical uncertainties, currency effects and margin pressure in the pharmaceutical blister packaging market. At the same time, the company continued its expansion strategy with two acquisitions.
In the reporting year, net sales rose by 3.3 per cent to CHF 334.1 million (previous year: CHF 323.3 million). The acquisitions of LOG Pharma and SiliCycle contributed 8.1 per cent to sales, while the strong Swiss franc had a negative effect of 3.8 per cent. Adjusted for currency and acquisition effects, sales fell by 1.0 per cent. EBITDA fell by 6.5 per cent to CHF 50.3 million, while the EBITDA margin was 15.0 per cent and thus below the medium-term target corridor of 16 to 18 per cent. EBIT fell by 16.3 per cent to CHF 32.8 million, while the net result fell by 32.0 per cent to CHF 23.4 million.
„The acquisitions of LOG Pharma and SiliCycle were the strategic highlights of the reporting year. Both companies have strong footholds in their respective markets and a great deal of potential with their technologies and products. The integration increases the value and future viability of the CPH Group as a whole.“
CEO Dr Alois Waldburg-Zeil
The Acquisition of LOG Pharma strengthened the Perlen Packaging division in particular, which expanded its portfolio to include pharmaceutical primary packaging such as vials and containers. According to the company, the market was characterised by trade tariffs as well as price and margin pressure. Although global blister sales increased, there was a shift in the sales mix towards lower-margin monoblisters.
Perlen Packaging's sales rose by 6.5 per cent to CHF 219 million, but adjusted for currency and acquisition effects, there was a decline of 1.5 per cent. EBITDA fell by 22.2 per cent to CHF 25.9 million, while the EBITDA margin decreased significantly to 11.8 per cent. At CHF 17.1 million, EBIT was 35.7 per cent below the previous year's figure. The company introduced cost reductions and invested in capacity expansions and product developments.
Solid financing and unchanged dividend
The CPH Group invested CHF 21.2 million in capacity and efficiency enhancements and product developments. Free cash flow before acquisitions fell to CHF 16.4 million. Net debt totalled CHF 26.2 million at year-end, corresponding to a leverage factor of 0.5x. The equity ratio was 55 per cent.
Despite the decline in earnings, the Board of Directors will propose an unchanged dividend of CHF 2.00 per share at the Annual General Meeting on 17 March 2026. This is at the upper end of the dividend policy of 25 to 50 per cent of net profit.
The CPH Group expects demand and sales to develop positively in 2026. Waldburg-Zeil said: „The CPH Group's business environment remains challenging, although the long-term megatrends of health & demographics and energy are intact growth drivers whose potential can be exploited by the CPH Group, which has a global presence and is strongly positioned in its market segments.“ Both EBITDA and EBIT as well as the net result are expected to be above the 2025 level in the current year.
Source: CPH Group
