By Cian Muenster and Basile Day
July 23 (Reuters) – German biopharma supplier Sartorius said on Thursday that full-year growth would likely come in the lower half of its guidance range, overshadowing better-than-expected first-half earnings and sending its shares lower.
The stock was down 2.1% at 1332 GMT, having fallen as much as 5.2% earlier.
Sartorius confirmed its full-year guidance after reporting first-half sales of €1.48 billion ($1.69 billion), with operational growth of 8.3% in constant currencies. Its underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin came in at 30.3%, slightly above a Vara consensus of 30%.
The company said it now expected results in the lower half of its guidance range for both the group and its Bioprocess Solutions (BPS) division, due to the revenue impact of reimbursing customers after receiving U.S. tariff refunds.
“The ‘lower half of guidance’ language for BPS is likely the main trigger, but I don’t think it is the full story,” said AlphaValue analyst Jitisha Malhotra.
She said operational growth was ahead of the guidance midpoint and the share-price move looked larger than the underlying numbers justified.
Malhotra said the reaction was likely also due to this being “the third straight print with some form of guidance disappointment”, following Sartorius’ initial 2026 guidance in February and a first-quarter EBITDA miss.
Sartorius said it had applied for €40 million in U.S. tariff refunds. “Of those €40 million, we have received €26 million in the first half of the year, specifically by the end of July. We will, of course, use those funds to provide compensation to our customers,” Chief Executive Michael Grosse said in a media call. Grosse said about €14 million remained outstanding, but the timing and amount were uncertain.
($1 = 0.8769 euros)
(Reporting by Cian Muenster and Basile Day, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
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