DocMorris continues to grow in the first quarter of 2024 and creates digital access to the entire e-prescription market

DocMorris AG / Key word(s): Quarterly / Interim Statement
DocMorris continues to grow in the first quarter of 2024 and creates digital access to the entire e-prescription market
16.04.2024 / 06:57 CET/CEST

Frauenfeld, 16 April 2024

Press release

DocMorris continues to grow in the first quarter of 2024 and creates digital access to the entire e-prescription market

• Revenue development as planned in the first quarter with growth of 10.3 per cent
• Positive indications for e-prescription market share
• Successful completion of the Germany-wide rollout of fully digital e-prescription redemption via the DocMorris app this week
• Outlook: indicative revenue and earnings forecast confirmed

DocMorris continued the positive revenue trend of the previous quarter as planned in the first quarter of 2024. External revenue^[1] increased by 10.3 per cent in local currency compared to the same period of the previous year. In Group currency, revenue rose by 5.5 per cent to CHF 262.4 million. As at the end of March 2024, the number of active customers[2] increased by 600,000 to 9.7 million compared to the previous quarter. This development confirms the turnaround towards sustainable, profitable growth.

Double-digit revenue growth in Germany
In the main market of Germany, external revenue in the first quarter of 2024 grew by 11.1 per cent in local currency or 6.3 per cent in Group currency to CHF 247.0 million compared to the same period of the previous year. This strong growth was driven by over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, particularly within the core brand DocMorris. At the same time, the growth reflects a relatively low prior-year basis. In local currency, OTC Sales increased by 17.2 per cent. As expected, revenue of prescription medicines initially declined by 17.5 per cent in local currency, as the e-prescription, which is mandatory since the beginning of 2024, could not yet be redeemed fully digitally at online pharmacies in the first quarter. The positive indications of DocMorris' market share for e-prescriptions continue to improve from month to month. This trend will continue with the launch of the CardLink solution via the DocMorris app. Currently, more than 2 million e-prescriptions are issued every day and more than 150 million e-prescriptions have already been redeemed.

In Spain and France, sales in the first quarter were below expectations at minus 1.8 per cent in local currency and minus 6.0 per cent in Group currency compared to the previous year at CHF 15.3 million as a result of an increasingly competitive market environment.

Fully digitalised e-prescription redemption via DocMorris app
On 9 April 2024, DocMorris received gematik approval for its fully digital e-prescription redemption channel via the electronic health card (eGK = elektronische Gesundheitskarte) (see press release). The rollout of the new e-prescription function in the DocMorris app was started immediately and is proceeding according to plan. It will be available to DocMorris customers throughout Germany this week. This simple redemption channel represents enormous market potential and enables convenient service offers: Anyone who redeems an e-prescription at DocMorris by 8 p.m. will receive their medication the very next working day. Chronically ill patients with long-term medication can sign up for a repeat prescription subscription and thus ensure a seamless supply of important medicines. With the Law to Strengthen Care I (German: Gesundheitsversorgungsstärkungsgesetz I), the Federal Ministry of Health intends to switch medical remuneration from quarterly payments to annual reimbursements. This will favour the consistent use of repeat prescriptions. And last but not least, the e-prescription also allows doctors to issue and send prescriptions to their patients as part of telemedical care.

TeleClinic with impressive growth
With the Digital Act coming into force on 26 March 2024, the course has been set for a deeper integration of telemedicine in Germany: The volume limits for telemedical care provided by medical practices have been lifted and the electronic patient file (ePA) will become mandatory for all people with statutory health insurance at the beginning of 2025. TeleClinic, the leading platform for online doctor consultations in Germany, continued to grow very strongly in the first quarter of 2024. Over than 2,000 registered doctors who actively use the technical platform of the DocMorris subsidiary have now treated more than 1.6 million cases.

Outlook
The e-prescription is established as the standard in Germany. However, the ramp-up of the prescription medicine business based on the CardLink solution is not yet fully predictable. Against this backdrop, DocMorris confirms the indicative expectations for the 2024 financial year communicated on 21 March:

• an increase in external revenue of more than 10 per cent (including e-prescriptions);
• an improvement in adjusted EBITDA to between CHF 0 million and minus CHF 35 million (including e-prescriptions);
• Capital expenditure of CHF 30 million to CHF 40 million.

In the medium term, an adjusted EBITDA margin of 8 per cent remains the target.

Investors and analyst contact
Dr. Daniel Grigat, Head of Investor Relations & Sustainability
Email: ir@docmorris.com, phone: +41 52 560 58 10

Media contact
Torben Bonnke, Director Communications
Email: media@docmorris.com, phone: +49 171 864 888 1

Agenda

DocMorris
The Swiss-based DocMorris AG is a leading company in the fields of online pharmacy, marketplace and professional healthcare with strong brands in Germany and other European countries. Deliveries are mainly from the highly automated logistics centre in Heerlen, the Netherlands, with a capacity of over 27 million parcels per year. In Spain and France, the company operates the leading marketplace for health and personal care products in Southern Europe. With its business model, DocMorris offers its patients, customers and partners a broad range of products and services. In doing so, DocMorris is pursuing its vision of creating a digital health ecosystem for everyone to manage their health in one click. The company was renamed from Zur Rose Group AG to DocMorris AG in May 2023 after the Swiss business was sold to Migros/Medbase. Excluding the Swiss business, about 1,600 employees in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, France and Switzerland generated an external revenue of CHF 1,038 million serving over 9 million active customers in 2023. The shares of DocMorris AG are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (securities number 4261528, ISIN CH0042615283, ticker DOCM). For further information, please visit corporate.docmorris.com.

^[1]  External revenue consists of the consolidated revenue of DocMorris plus online revenues of pharmacies supplied by DocMorris, less the consolidated revenue from supplying them.

^[2]  Customers supplied by DocMorris, either directly or through its partners.

End of Media Release