— By Plasteurope.com staff — 

Anna Maria Braun, chair of the board of B.Braun (Melsungen, Germany; www.bbraun.com), expressed satisfaction with the company’s business performance when presenting the corporate figures for 2024. The reason for this is clear – in a year when many companies faced significant challenges, the medical-technology giant was able to increase its revenue by 4.4% to EUR 9.14 bn – adjusted for exchange-rate effects, growth reached 6.8%. EBITDA rose by 8.1% to EUR 1.1 bn, and consolidated net income jumped by 39% to EUR 174 mn.

For the 2025 fiscal year, Braun expects currency-adjusted growth of between 5% and 7%, even though she believes the geopolitical situation is likely to remain volatile. For EBITDA, she anticipates an increase to between EUR 1.21 bn and EUR 1.26 bn.

Related: Global market disruptions burden medtech industry

The products manufactured by B.Braun include infusion pumps and systems, surgical instruments and sutures, hip and knee endoprostheses, devices and accessories for diabetes treatment, as well as products for the fields of nutrition therapy, hygiene management, and wound care. Last year, the company purchased 68,400 t of plastic (polystyrene, SBR, ABS, polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC), which was 700 t or 1% more than in 2023. In addition, it acquired 196.9 mn running metres of film for packaging – a 2.9% increase compared with 2023. Of the 64,300 employees worldwide, nearly a quarter are based in Germany.

Meanwhile, German medtech association BVMed (Berlin; www.bvmed.de) is calling for medical device products and key components to be exempt from all planned US tariffs. The US is one of the most important export markets for German medical-technology products. According to MedTech Europe (Brussels; www.medtecheurope.org), the European trade association for the medical technology industry, medical products from Germany are affected by the 20% US tariffs currently imposed on EU products. Many medtech companies also use steel and aluminium components in their products, which exposes them directly to the increased tax rate of 25%. MedTech Europe also reiterated its call for the European Commission to exempt medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices plus their essential inputs from any retaliatory tariffs.

The US is an important market for B.Braun, the company said, adding that it manufactures a large part of its product portfolio for the US market locally. The company expects the tariffs to affect global supply chains, its processes, and its global business. Currently the firm is evaluating the extent to which this will be the case and is developing solutions to minimise risks to its business.