Mehiläinen’s results in 2020: profitable growth continued despite loss of income and additional costs caused by the coronavirus

The year 2020 will be remembered as an exceptional time also in the history of Mehiläinen, now 111 years old. Strong organic growth and good profitability at the beginning of the year changed dramatically as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic began to be felt in March and, in just a few days, visits to medical clinics decreased by tens of percent. The coronavirus pandemic caused Mehiläinen significant loss of income and additional costs in several functions. Mehiläinen’s response to the new and unpredictable situation was quick and decisive.

“Mehiläinen’s task is to bear responsibility for the health and wellbeing of Finns. Our top priority in this exceptional situation has been to ensure the safety of our customers and staff. We also took steps to enable society to function as smoothly as possible: we quickly set up a network of coronavirus testing stations, acquired analytical capacity and significantly increased the resources of our digital services,” says Janne-Olli Järvenpää, the CEO of Mehiläinen.

During the second half of the financial year, Mehiläinen eliminated the deficit accumulated in the first half through tight cost control, strong organic growth and the launch of new services. By the end of 2020, revenue and underlying profitability were close to targets for the financial year.

In 2020, Mehiläinen Group’s revenue grew by 9.2 per cent from the comparison period, to EUR 1,162.5 (1,064.1) million. Growth was mainly organic. The underlying operating profit before the amortisation of intangible assets arising from acquisitions and impairment (underlying EBITA) increased by 12.8 per cent to EUR 134.1 (118.8) million. Total investments amounted to EUR 52.8 (85.4) million. The net cash flow from operating activities remained strong at EUR 202.0 (200.7) million. The profit for the financial year was slightly positive at EUR 0.2 (0.6) million. The profit for the financial year was reduced by amortisation and impairment of intangible assets, interest and financial expenses, and corporation taxes. Mehiläinen Group's tax footprint increased by 6.1 per cent from the comparison period to EUR 230.9 (217.6) million.

In 2020, Mehiläinen employed a total of over 22,300 employees and private practitioners. Our full-time staff grew by 4.2 per cent from the previous year, with an average of 9,461 employees. The Net Promoter Score of medical clinics remained at a record level of 89.

Strong net cash flow from operating activities and profitable growth guarantee opportunities for investment and quality work

Sustainable growth and healthy finances allow Mehiläinen to continue investing in the best expertise, service development and digital services in the industry. We are also seeking growth in the international markets.

“We want to turn the export of health services into a new pillar for the Finnish economy. During the year, we took significant steps in this work through our new company BeeHealthy,” Järvenpää says.

During the year, investing in high quality and cutting-edge digital services also won us a competitive tender in Päijät-Häme. Harjun terveys, a joint venture established with the Päijät-Häme Joint Authority for Health and Wellbeing, started operating at the beginning of 2021.

A significant development effort in 2020 was creating Mehiläinen’s first responsibility programme, the themes of which highlight the cornerstones of Mehiläinen’s business: the quality of treatment and care, customer orientation, evolution and development, steady and sustainable growth and responsibility for people. Corporate responsibility will be reported in a separate report that complies with the GRI framework.

Mehiläinen's annual report, report of the Board of Directors, financial statements and responsibility report for 2020 will be published in full on 19 February 2021.

Key figures

Mehiläinen Konserni Oy Group (EUR million)	2019	2020	Change %
Revenue	1 064,1	1 162,5	9,2 %
Underlying EBITDA 1)	202,0	227,6	12,7 %
% of revenue	19,0	19,6
EBITDA	197,1	218,6	11,0 %
% of revenue	18,5	18,8
Underlying EBITA 2)	118,8	134,1	12,8 %
% of revenue	11,2	11,5
EBITA 3)	114,0	125,1	9,8 %
% of revenue	10,7	10,8
Operating profit	81,8	86,0	5,2 %
% of revenue	7,7	7,4
Result for the year	0,6	0,2	-63,8 %
% of revenue	0,1	0,0
Net cash flow from operating activities	200,7	202,0	0,7 %
Tax footprint 4)	217,6	230,9	6,1 %
Corporation taxes 5)	6,4	14,6	129,1 %
Net cash flow from acquisitions of subsidiaries and businesses	57,4	22,7	-60,4 %
Investments in tangible and intangible assets	28,0	30,1	7,5 %
Average staff (full-time)	9 077	9 461	4,2 %
Customers’ Net Promoter Score (NPS)	89	89	0 %

1) EBITDA before items affecting comparability.
2) Operating profit before the amortisation of intangible assets arising from acquisitions, impairment and items affecting comparability.
3) Operating profit before the amortisation of intangible assets arising from acquisitions and impairment.
4) Tax footprint including employer’s social insurance contributions. The tax footprint of the private practitioners operating at Mehiläinen comes on top of Mehiläinen’s own tax footprint. The tax footprint of private practitioners amounts to an estimated EUR 66.8 (66.7) million.
5) Corporation taxes for the financial year include all income tax recorded in the results for the financial year as well as the income tax from previous years recorded during this financial year due to income adjustments (does not include deferred tax).