Europe Healthcare: 15th German Corporate Conference — Key Takeaways

We attended investor meetings with Sartorius AG/Stedim and Merck KGaA, as well as a fireside chat with Sartorius AG's CEO, Dr Michael Grosse, at our 15th Annual German Corporate Conference. For Sartorius, management noted that post-pandemic customers are shifting volumes back to multinationals, bioprocessing momentum continues to be volume-driven, industry destocking is largely behind us, and equipment growth is recovering off a low base, with Asia Pacific and China a key growth region. For Merck KGaA, APAC Life Sciences grew faster than the division overall; the company views Chinese players serving the global market as growth drivers while facing pricing pressure from those serving the domestic market, intends to bolster its healthcare pipeline via M&A, and expects semiconductor solutions to remain the main growth engine in Electronics, with optronics sales flat. GS rates Sartorius AG Neutral and Sartorius Stedim Biotech Buy; Merck KGaA is Not Rated.