German pharmaceutical packaging and services company Gerresheimer (Düsseldorf; www.gerresheimer.com) has reported a 10% year-on-year increase in operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) to EUR 278m for the year ended 30 November 201,5 on revenues up 7% at EUR 1.38 bn.

During the year, the company acquired plastic vials and closures producer Centor (Perrysburg, Ohio / USA; www.centorrx.com) for USD 725m – see Plasteurope.com of 31.07.2015 – boosting its presence in the plastic pharmaceutical packaging segment in the US. It also sold its glass tubing production business.

Uwe Röhrhoff, Gerresheimer CEO, said: “2015 was not only a successful but also an important year for us. In Centor, we successfully acquired a market-leading and profitable company in the USA. Similarly important was the sale of the glass tubing production activities, with which we further sharpened our focus on pharmaceutical packaging and made our business less capital-intensive. We are successfully implementing our strategy, and I look forward with great confidence to the years ahead.”

The company is further expanding production capacity for drug delivery systems including insulin pens and asthma inhalers, especially in the US and the Czech Republic. Its global programme of modernising and standardising injection vial production machinery was also continued. A production facility for injection vials and ampoules was completed in India and production is scheduled to start at the end of 2016.

Looking toward 2016, the company anticipates revenues of around EUR 1.5 bn on a constant exchange rate basis. That figure corresponds to revenue growth of about 9% at constant exchange rates compared with revenues in financial year 2015, and organic revenue growth of between 4% and 5%. Gerresheimer expects adjusted EBITDA to increase to around EUR 320m in fiscal year 2016, ending 30 November.