Record sales help B.Braun to £6.5m profit

UK group sales grew from £186m to £194m in the year to the end of December, while profit after tax was up from £4.1m to £6.5m. Shareholders received a dividend payment of £6m, which will appear in next year’s results.

The firm, which employs 1,400, paid £1.47m tax.

Charitable donations were £8,425 in 2018, according to a report filed at Companies House, up from £1,690 the year before.

The firm funds the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and the Northern General Hospital helipad appeal. It also supports Sheffield Sharks basketball team and hand-cyclist Karen Darke who is competing in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

B.Braun, headquartered at Thorncliffe Park in Chapeltown, spent more than £3m preparing for Brexit last year, including £2m on a warehouse to stockpile supplies, as well as renting further space and hiring 25 staff to handle red tape.

The report states: ‘The directors expect that the strength in the core business will lead to continued growth in 2019 and for the foreseeable future.’

It adds: ‘The major customer is the NHS and the directors consider that the effects of NHS initiatives on market pricing will continue to offer challenges. Furthermore, the directors have given due consideration to the levels of funding available to the NHS in the medium term. Future pension shortfalls also represent an area of uncertainty for the business. Increased costs arising from Brexit such as currency devaluation and increased administration on imports have introduced new challenges’.

Sir Andrew Cash, former Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust chief executive, was appointed as a non-executive director in December.

B.Braun chairman and group chief executive Hans Hux, said: “We’re very proud of our work over the past 12 months. Our sales figures continue to increase, despite the additional costs and uncertainty Brexit is creating for businesses operating in the UK.”