Single-Use Growth Offsets Pall's Muted Results

29-Aug-2013 - Last updated on 15-Dec-2023 at 10:43 GMT

Related tags Disposable

Pall Corporation says it will continue to invest in single-use systems after reporting substantially higher growth in sales compared to stainless steel systems for the 2013 FY.

Across the group, Pall’s revenue for the year ending July 31 2013 dropped marginally to $2.65bn (€2bn) from $2.67, but was offset by revenue growth in the life sciences sector with biopharmaceutical consumables accounting for $812m, up 7.6% on last year.

One area CEO Lawrence Kingsley acknowledged Pall was making good development in was disposable bio-systems. He told stakeholders in a conference call yesterday: “There is without a doubt a continued trend for some portion of the bioprocess environment to move towards single use versus the traditional stainless steel architectures, and the good news is we're doing well with that.”

He continued, adding: “Our growth rates for single use-based applications are substantially higher than more traditional forms, where filtration was a smaller component of the solution. In terms of the big picture and how it impacts us, we get a lot more content out of a single use-based system than we did out of the former stainless equivalent.”

However, Kingsley said the margin rate for single-use systems is not incremental but rather “slightly dilutive” and therefore Pall is “continuing to invest right now in single use.”

He also issued positive guidance, saying the company has allocated some of its R&D spend on single-use. "I think we're in great shape as the industry continues to migrate," he said, "so I think the story going forward will be better growth as a function of it."

Palling Up

In the last few years, Pall’s biopharma consumables business has been grown and strengthened by a number of acquisitions of both companies and technologies.

In December 2011, the firm acquired Californian firm ForteBio adding the Blitz and Octlet label-free protein analysis platforms to its biopharma arsenal. Furthermore Pall has also expanded its Allegro mixer range, and set up Centres of Excellence in both Singapore and the UK of late.

Pall is “currently assessing several opportunities of varying sizes,” Kingsley said on the call. “Our M&A capability continues to improve and we're actively engaged in proprietary opportunities… we will remain vigilant and disciplined to acquire what we desire, but also at an appropriate price.”