Ansell (ANN)

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http://www.ansell.com/

http://www.ansell.com/en/About/Investor-...Price.aspx

Ansell organic sales growth up 3% in Q1
MICHAEL RODDAN OCTOBER 16, 2014 5:00PM
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Ansell has improved first quarter sales growth, and reaffirmed share price earnings for fiscal 2015, at the company's annual general meeting update today.

The gloves and condom manufacturer said organic sales growth improved in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, increasing by 3 per cent, and it expects earnings before interest and tax growth in the mid to high 20 per cent range.

It reaffirmed an earnings per share guidance increase of up to 15 per cent, or $US1.26 a share, for fiscal 2015.

Ansell says global market conditions remain uneven. It is seeing improved demand in North America, but economic uncertainty is creating renewed weakness in Europe, compounded by problems in the Middle East and West Africa.

The company said the foreign exchange rate and the weakness in the euro was a significant headwind to its US dollar earnings, but Ansell expects the weakness to be offset by its hedging strategies and favourable raw material prices.

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Ebola a double-edged sword for Ansell

Liam Mannix and Jessica Gardner
668 words
18 Oct 2014
The Australian Financial Review
AFNR
English
Copyright 2014. Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited.

The effect of the Ebola crisis in West Africa has already begun to spread from human life to the nerves of investors and executives, but for some innovative, local healthcare companies it could prove to be an opportunity.

The chief executive of protective equipment maker Ansell, Magnus ­Nicolin, said the $3 billion company is experiencing both sides of that sword. Mr Nicolin said news coverage of the ­terrifying outbreak, especially in the United States where a second nurse has contracted the virus, will play on the minds of decision makers. "It creates a lot of uncertainty in the marketplace," he said. "I think you're going to see people deferring decisions on certain investments if this continues."

Global markets dropped on fears of the virus spreading this week after US ­officials said more than 100 people had potentially been exposed to the virus there. Investors in London, New York and Japan all sold heavily and world oil prices dropped to a four-year low.

Shares in big US airlines fell between 4 and 6 per cent at the tail end of the week as news filtered out that an American health worker diagnosed with Ebola caught a cross-country flight.

Investors fear the scare may hit airline revenues as people reconsider travel plans or travel bans are put in place. The 2003 SARS epidemic cost airlines about $6 billion.

But Mr Nicolin said there is also some upside for Ansell as health organisations band together to fight the outbreak. Sales to West Africa of Ansell's medical exam and surgical gloves, as well as ­protective clothing used in clean up ­operations have shown an "incremental" increase, he said.

"It's not material, but it is a moving ­variable that depending on what happens with Ebola could become more significant," he said. Mr Nicolin said demand for Ansell's antimicrobial gloves, which are coated with gels that kill viral and ­bacterial organisms, could rise."We are the only company with anti-microbial surgical glove."The special gloves cost 60 to 80 per cent more than the standard product.Ansell's largest market for the gloves at the moment is Russia, where surgeons and physicians try to protect themselves from high instances of Hepatitis B among the population.

Ansell has donated 2.8 million pairs of its standard gloves to Ebola-hit regions. "It's obviously quite traumatic," Mr ­Nicolin said. "We obviously have a role to not just sell product."Vaccine would take over a year

Another Australian company, blood plasma product and vaccine maker CSL said this week it was in talks with the World Health Organisation about a short-term solution to the epidemic.

Chief executive Paul Perreault said it would take more than a year to create a vaccine. But CSL could play a role in the purification of antibodies found in the blood of survivors. These could be used as a treatment for sufferers.

Australian National University ­infectious diseases expert Professor Peter Collignon said there was little chance for Australia to play a role, especially while the virus is mostly contained in West Africa. Australia only has only a single copy of the Ebola virus, kept at a government lab near Geelong.

"This is one of those cases where ­Australian is relatively so small that we really do not have the resources or the equipment to do much," he said.

The World Bank has said if Ebola spreads beyond West Africa – as is expected – the cost could reach $32.6 billion by the end of 2015.

The 2003 SARS outbreak caused ­relatively few deaths – 1000, while Ebola's death toll rose to more than 4500 this week – but had a significant impact on growth in several Asian nations.

China's gross domestic product took a 1.1 per cent hit, and Hong Kong's fell 2.6 per cent hit, The overall cost of the outbreak was about $33 billion.


Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited

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