Smith & Nephew reported robust revenue growth in 2023, driven by the company’s innovation strategy and early progress on its strategic 12-Point Plan.
Full year revenue was $5,549 million, up 7.2% on an underlying basis from 2022. This growth exceeded the company’s initial guidance and was led by double-digit gains in Sports Medicine & ENT and a strong performance in Advanced Wound Management.
Smith & Nephew shares were 4% higher at the time of writing.
The growth reflects the strength of Smith & Nephew’s portfolio, with new product introductions driving gains across all three business units. In particular, the company’s investments in innovation have yielded a strong pipeline of new products that are expected to sustain growth momentum going forward.
“British medtech Smith & Nephew hasn’t delivered any curveballs in full-year results today. There was broad based growth across all business units and geographies and it was pleasing to see a strong performance from the cutting edge CORI robotic surgery platform,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.
For 2024, Smith & Nephew expects to deliver underlying revenue growth in the range of 5-6%, driven by the ongoing benefits of its strategic initiatives. The 12-Point Plan, announced in 2022, aims to accelerate growth by prioritising investment in key areas such as advanced technologies and productivity improvements.
Investors will be encouraged by early progress on the 12-point plan has started to translate into improved financial results, according to management. Combined with Smith & Nephew’s robust new product pipeline, the strategic actions position the company to achieve sustainable higher growth over the long term.
“Following an extended period of underperformance, Smith & Nephew set out a “12 point plan” to shareholders last year in a bid to improve productivity, strengthen profit margins and overhaul the company’s orthopaedics group which has seen its market share begin to slip in recent years. This morning’s earnings report suggests the plan is starting to pay off,” said Mark Crouch, analyst at investment platform eToro.
