We create added value for the healthcare system

We can once again look back on a successful financial year. With sales growth of 4.7%, we met our forecasts for 2022 and sales exceeded the CHF 4 billion mark in a financial year for the first time. You can find a review of the 2022 operational financial year in our management report.

Following the lifting of the coronavirus measures in spring 2022, we were able to gradually return to our new normal. At the same time, the war in Ukraine has shown how quickly normality can change again.

There have been increased bottlenecks in global supply chains in the past year related to the war in Ukraine. Non-deliveries of raw materials, but also of materials such as glass bottles and paper, have put a heavy strain on the entire Group. As a result, there have also been repeated medication shortages, for example at Galexis and in our pharmacies. In this situation, all employees were required to demonstrate maximum flexibility, look for alternatives and adopt a solution-oriented approach. A situation that our employees have mastered and continue to master.

Despite these new challenges for us, we achieved important milestones in our business development in the 2022 financial year and further developed and expanded our product ranges and services in line with customer needs.

We create added value for our customers and patients

In the 2022 financial year, we further expanded our pharmacy services and advice, and further strengthened the important role of the pharmacy as the first point of contact for health issues. With our services and advice, we are not only able to offer patients and customers a low-threshold range of health-related services, but also make a significant contribution towards reducing the overall cost of treatment. The figures clearly show that what we offer is appreciated and used by our customers. In the 2022 financial year, around 121,000 customers benefited from the pharmacy services. This is an increase of around 60% compared to the previous year. In order to also meet these needs in the future, we will continue to expand our services, for example in the area of vaccinations. Vaccinations against COVID-19 and the flu, tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and herpes zoster are now available in more than 300 of our pharmacies.

Investing in the skills of our employees

The noticeable strengthening of the role of pharmacies is due in particular to the continuous expansion of the specialist skills of our employees in pharmacies. Like many other sectors, healthcare is facing an acute shortage of skilled workers, which is also evident in our pharmacies. We use various elements to position ourselves as an attractive employer. For example, services and advice enrich the work of pharmacy employees and give them the opportunity to use their full expertise to advise customers, supported by up-to-date training and further education programmes.

The future lies in the networked healthcare system

The behaviour and needs of our customers are changing rapidly and the need for digital offerings and solutions is increasing. Helping to shape this shift towards more digital services is a top priority for us. Always with the aim of creating added value for all stakeholders and making existing processes simpler and more efficient. We will achieve the digital transformation not only with individual digital solutions, but also with the networking of everyone involved – from patients to pharmacies, hospitals, doctors and health insurers. By investing in the Well digital healthcare platform, we invested early in new digital offerings to improve the customer experience. The Well app gives customers access to digital services and makes it easy to access our offerings. For example, as a first step the booking of vaccination appointments at a pharmacy was integrated.

Another example of digital networking is Aquantic’s software, which makes it much easier for service providers to process the billing of special medications.

In the reporting year, we also completed various pilot projects for our e-prescription solution and gained valuable experience. Once that the solution works technically, we want to push ahead with implementation among service providers and play an active role in the development of national standards. As soon as the framework conditions and requirements have been met by the service providers, we can actively make a major contribution to process simplification and patient safety with our solution.

Innovative solutions in the home care sector

Over the past year we have also expanded our range of services in the home care sector. The ever-increasing need for care to be provided at home as far as possible, our ageing society and the cost pressures associated with this are increasing the need and demand for outpatient services and treatment options.

With our recently founded joint venture Emeda, we are able to provide medical and pharmaceutical care to nursing homes in Switzerland, which is even more tailored to their needs and offer homes and care organisations everything from a single source. Lifestage Solutions and Medifilm have also expanded their services over the past year and gained additional customers with their innovative offerings.

Progress on our sustainability goals

Last year, we have also made great progress in the area of sustainability. For the first time, we had formulated our ambitions for the past year and subsequent years in concrete goals, and developed and implemented measures to achieve them.

In the reporting year, we carried out several campaigns to raise awareness among our employees of the topics of cybersecurity and data protection. To improve patient safety, we were able to provide product information on Algifor^® in additional languages and further increase the use of the Clinical Decision Support Check in pharmacies. We were also able to significantly increase the satisfaction and motivation of our employees through internal measures. And finally, having modernised the distribution centre in Lausanne-Ecublens, we were able to reopen a site that meets the highest sustainability standards.

A detailed description of our goal achievement and an overview of the individual goals can be found in the management report.

Our sustainable vision

The health, safety and well-being of our customers are at the heart of our business activities. As Switzerland's leading fully integrated healthcare provider, we have an important part to play in ensuring security of supply and the provision of basic care for the people and thus contribute towards Goal 3 (“Good Health and Well-being”) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This objective is central to our business activities and is the core of our customer promise to support people at every stage of life on their journey towards health and well-being.

We would like to thank you, our valued shareholders, for placing your trust in us. We would also like to thank our partners who share this vision, as well as our customers who entrust us with their health and well-being every day. And finally, we would like to thank our employees for their outstanding commitment, without whom all this would not be possible!

Bern, 7 March 2023

Daniela Bosshardt

Chairwoman of the Board of Directors

Marc Werner

CEO