The healthcare group Fresenius may be in a quandary.
Because of the state energy aid used for the clinic subsidiary Helios, the DAX group may not be allowed to pay a dividend to its shareholders or bonuses to its managers for 2023. In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS), Fresenius CEO Michael Sen, who has been in office for exactly a year on October 1st, criticized the law to relieve hospitals of increased energy costs as “complex and partly unclear”. lead to considerable interpretation uncertainties. “There is now also a review authority that may be able to shed some light on what is partly dark,” said Sen.
Specifically, it is about a provision in the “Law on the Introduction of Price Controls for Piped Natural Gas and Heat”, according to which hospital operators who receive more than 50 million euros in state aid are not allowed to pay any bonuses or dividends for 2023. According to the FAS, state aid at Helios totaled around 90 million euros in the first half of the year.
When asked whether Fresenius would, if necessary, take legal action against the cancellation of bonuses and dividends, Sen replied: “In the end, we will look at this very closely and, based on careful consideration, make the necessary decisions in the interests of increasing the value of the company company and our shareholders.”
Fresenius pursues a progressive dividend policy, based on which the dividend should be increased in line with currency-adjusted growth in earnings per share or at least maintained at the previous year’s level. For 2022, shareholders received an unchanged dividend of 92 cents despite the decline in profits.
If state energy aid for hospitals ceases in April 2024, CEO Sen sees other options for maintaining the margin at Helios. In an interview with the FAS, he mentioned, in addition to more patients and a more favorable composition of cases, shorter waiting times and a reduction in overdiagnosis.
Sen sees his restructuring course confirmed not least by the reaction on the capital market. The bond issued this week was heavily oversubscribed, he told the FAS. According to the company, the seven-year bond has a volume of 500 million euros and an annual coupon of 5.125 percent. “Our securities are definitely in demand, despite the current high level of debt,” said Sen. “This shows that the market is taking our new strategy and the measures with which we want to achieve our goals seriously. One of them is the level of debt, that is to bring the loan-to-earnings ratio from the current level of just over 4.0 to 3.5 and lower.”
If business areas are sold, these funds would also go towards debt repayment. The Helios fertility centers Eugin and the digital subsidiary Curalie had already been mentioned in media reports in this context.
FRANKFURT (Dow Jones)
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