Getinge lifts adjusted profit margin to 15.1% despite slower sales growth

Key Facts

Getinge raised its adjusted earnings before interest, tax and amortisation margin to 15.1% in the third quarter of 2026, according to its financial report. The margin was about 13.1% in the corresponding period of 2025, with profitability improving despite slower organic sales growth during the quarter. Earnings on this measure rose to 1,278 million Swedish crowns, compared with 1,079 million crowns in the third quarter of the previous year. The improvement in profitability also extended to the adjusted gross margin, which reached 51.4% during the period, according to figures released by the company. The adjusted gross margin was 49.2% in the corresponding period, while management attributed the improvement in profitability to product mix, pricing and productivity.

Getinge reported net sales of 8,446 million Swedish crowns in the third quarter of 2026, against 8,226 million crowns in the corresponding period, according to the financial report. Organic sales growth slowed to 2.1% during the quarter, compared with growth of 9.5% in the same period a year earlier. The slowdown in organic growth extended to orders, which continued to rise during the reporting period, but at a slower pace than a year earlier. Organic order growth reached 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company, against 4.7% in the corresponding period of 2025. In the Life Science segment, the washer-disinfector category was affected by continued weak investment activity among pharmaceutical companies, according to the official earnings release.

The adjusted earnings before interest, tax and amortisation margin benefited from tariff refunds of 45 million Swedish crowns during the third quarter. Getinge said in its official release that year-on-year currency effects also supported adjusted earnings on the same measure during the period. The approximate positive currency impact was 36 million Swedish crowns, alongside the contribution from tariff refunds to the company's results. Excluding both tariff refunds and currency effects, the adjusted earnings margin was 14.3% in the third quarter of 2026, according to the release. The company explains in its pre-close briefing that it generally benefits from a stronger dollar, given its business exposure to exchange-rate movements.

Getinge reported net profit of 726 million Swedish crowns in the third quarter of 2026, according to figures in its financial report. That compares with net profit of 576 million Swedish crowns in the third quarter of 2025, marking an increase in earnings for the period. Adjusted earnings per share rose to 3.10 Swedish crowns during the quarter, against 2.42 crowns per share in the corresponding period of the previous year. Free cash flow also rose during the same period to 1,302 million Swedish crowns, according to the financial report presenting the quarterly results. Free cash flow was 793 million Swedish crowns in the corresponding period, alongside year-on-year increases in profit and adjusted earnings per share.

Explaining the drivers of improved profitability, Getinge's chief executive pointed in the official earnings release to the impact of product mix, pricing discipline and productivity improvements. He described the supporting factors as "a favourable mix, pricing discipline and productivity improvements", linking profitability to these operational elements of the company's business. Elsewhere in the business, weak investment among pharmaceutical companies continued to affect washer-disinfectors in the Life Science segment. Getinge described the investment environment among these companies as showing "a continued low level of investment activity in the pharmaceutical sector", according to the earnings statement. This pressure on the category came in a quarter when the group improved profitability, while organic sales and order growth slowed compared with the corresponding period.

Getinge maintained its forecast for organic net sales growth in 2026 at 3–5%, according to the company's third-quarter results presentation. This range is adjusted to exclude the impact of the phase-out of the surgical perfusion business, according to the wording of the company's full-year guidance. Over the longer term, Getinge targets an adjusted earnings before interest, tax and amortisation margin of between 16% and 19%. The company set the end of 2028 as the deadline for this target in the results presentation, alongside its organic sales growth guidance for the current year. Its next financial release will cover the fourth quarter and full-year 2026 results, with Getinge setting the publication date at 26 January 2027, according to its third-quarter pre-close briefing.