But CSL said it was confident it can return to growth,with profits expected in the range of $US2.4 billion to $US2.5 billion for the current financial year.
While the company’s $16.4 billion acquisition of Vifor was not included in its earnings forecasts,Perreault emphasised the role the business will play for growth.
“With CSL Vifor,what I see is the ability to expand the area of nephrology and the diseases of iron deficiency,” he said. “They have established a base in that area,which has been a bit of an unloved area in medicine for some time because it has been hard[to develop treatments].”
Perreault is hoping to replicate the success of CSL Seqirus,the influenza vaccine business that CSL bought from Novartis in 2015,which has grown into a product segment generating $US1.8 billion in annual revenue.
Management will look to integrate Vifor into the CSL business quickly,Perreault said,noting that the process would be faster than when the influenza business was brought into the company.
COVID-19 disruptions have played havoc with the volume of plasma CSL has been able to collect over the past two years,putting the business two years behind where it expected to be in terms of projected growth at the end of 2022. However,Perreault said the company was now running at higher collection levels than pre-pandemic.
“What you’re seeing is very good momentum coming out of the second half of this past fiscal year and moving into this fiscal year,” he said.