Qiagen eyes sales growth of 7% per year until 2028

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Diagnostics company Qiagen said on Monday it was targeting 7% currency-adjusted sales growth per year until 2028 on lab testing machines for infections and cancer, as it maps out its post-pandemic strategy.

Holding an investor event on Monday, it also issued a goal for adjusted operating income margin of at least 31% in 2028, up from 26.9% in 2023, by winding down unprofitable products and simplifying the organisation.

Qiagen has said it will return to growth in adjusted earnings this year, recovering from last year's drop in profit when demand for coronavirus lab tests plunged.

"Between life sciences and clinical application, our market is growing between 4% and 6%, so saying 7% means outpacing the market and therefore taking market share," CEO Thierry Bernard told Reuters.

The sales push will focus on genetic testing machines for labs, based on polymer chain reaction or PCR, and diagnostic tests for cancer as well as for infectious diseases such as meningitis, pneumonia and stomach bugs.

Analytical software and a tuberculosis blood test will also play key roles.

As part of its push to improve margins, Qiagen earlier this month said it would stop selling NeuMoDx test machines, which were vital to many labs during the pandemic but which have become a drag on the bottom line.

At the same time Qiagen raised its 2024 guidance for earnings per share before one-off items to at least $2.14, when adjusted for currency swings, up from a previous target of at least $2.10 and from $2.09 achieved in 2023.

CEO Bernard said other smaller, low-margin products were under review, with an update likely this year.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; editing by Friederike Heine and Jason Neely)