Thornton & Ross owner reports £2.57bn turnover

Showing resilience amid the coronavirus pandemic, the parent company of pharmaceutical company Thornton & Ross has reported an annual turnover of £2.57 billion.

STADA, which is backed by UK private equity funds Cinven and Bain Capital, has a major presence in the UK pharmaceutical and healthcare market. It acquired Thornton & Ross, the makers of Covonia, Savlon, Hedrin and Zoflora in a £221 million deal in 2013.

The European pharmaceutical giant also owns Natures Aid, a natural supplements business, and Britannia, an affiliate that brings innovative treatments for Parkinson’s disease.

A multi-million pound investment in STADA's site at Huddersfield has transformed it into a centre of excellence for liquids, such as Covonia, household products like Zoflora and semi-solids such as emollient creams and ointments.

The UK arm of the business is also leading an expansion into the US market for STADA after brands such as Zoflora and Hedrin made inroads into Australia, Hong Kong, Serbia and the UAE.

Globally, the group has achieved 18 per cent sales and 15 per cent adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) growth at constant currencies in 2020.

“Throughout 2020, ensuring the health and safety of all employees and their families has been STADA’s utmost priority,” commented STADA’s CEO Peter Goldschmidt.

“While STADA has responded with agility to the pandemic, we have continued to strengthen our supply-chain infrastructure for a sustainable future. I am proud of how STADA has worked tirelessly with hundreds of partners amid the pandemic to keep supplying medicines and deliver on our purpose of caring for people’s health as a trusted partner,” Goldschmidt added.

Investments in the supply chain strengthened STADA’s sustainability, with record output, strong supply levels and zero critical observations from regulatory inspections of manufacturing facilities in 2020.

Roger Scarlett-Smith, executive vice president, STADA UK and North America, said: “STADA’s above-market global performance has been mirrored in the UK, indicative of the resilience of our people in the face of turbulent market conditions.

“A major multi-million pound investment in STADA’s Huddersfield facility is transforming the site to a STADA centre of excellence for liquids and semi-solids. The UK business is also spearheading STADA’s growing presence in the US consumer healthcare arena, as well as delivering major export successes including Zoflora and Hedrin.”

During 2020, STADA became number four in the European generics market and increased its ranking from number nine to number five in the European consumer healthcare market.

Outside of Europe, STADA continued to strengthen its presence in selected Asian markets such as China, the Philippines and Vietnam, as well as in the Middle East and North Africa.