Product mix and price hikes help Q4
Boule showed some signs of a recovery. Net sales were SEK 149.2m (+8% vs. ABGSCe at SEK 137.6m), +6% vs. Q4'21 (-8% organically). Instrument sales were below our expectations, (794 units vs. ABGSCe of 953), largely explained by the shift from 3-part to 5-part instruments. However, both own and OEM consumables were 12% and 44% above our estimates, suggesting that labs are back to pre-pandemic utilisation. While the product shift could negatively affect instrument sales in '23-'24, we do not expect a major drop in instrument revenues going forward. The lower volumes are being offset by the average selling price rising to an all-time high (SEK 44.5k), mostly due to price hikes. Furthermore, the favourable product mix pushed the gross margin to 44.7% (+3pp vs. Q3'22). Although supply chain issues remain and purchases at the spot price are still needed, Boule mentioned that it has started seeing signs of normalisation. To improve opex Boule will reduce staff, which is expected to be evident in the Q1'23 report.
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