UCB SA FY25 EBITDA jumps on Bimzelx surge; margin hit by one-offs

Investing.com -- Belgian biopharmaceutical company UCB SA (EBR:UCB) on Thursday reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 79% to €2.64 billion in 2025, though the headline margin of 34% of revenue included proceeds from asset sales and a contract manufacturing windfall that, when stripped out, reduced the underlying margin to 31.4%.

Revenue rose 26% to €7.74 billion from €6.15 billion a year earlier, while net sales climbed 32% to €7.39 billion, driven by the company’s five core growth products.

Core earnings per share more than doubled to €9.99 from €4.98 in 2024.

Immunology drug Bimzelx, the company’s IL-17A/F inhibitor, was the primary growth engine, with net sales rising more than 200% to €2.23 billion from €607 million, making it UCB’s largest product by revenue. 

U.S. net sales for Bimzelx alone reached €1.66 billion. The drug is now approved across five indications in more than 50 countries, with psoriasis accounting for 53% of global sales, hidradenitis suppurativa 28%, and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis combined at 19%.

RYSTIGGO rose 65% to €332 million, ZILBRYSQ more than doubled to €217 million from €72 million, and FINTEPLA grew 26% to €427 million.

Contract manufacturing sales more than doubled to €184 million from €79 million, contributing to a 47% increase in other operating income to €829 million. UCB said adjusted EBITDA corrected for these other operating one-offs was €2.43 billion, representing the 31.4% underlying margin.

"Corrected for other operating one-offs in 2025, growth is expected in the high teens to high twenties percentage range at CER," UCB said in the report, referring to 2026 guidance at constant exchange rates.

BRIVIACT, UCB’s epilepsy drug, posted net sales of €758 million, up 11%, in what the company described as its final year of patent protection; exclusivity expires in the United States in February 2026 and in Europe in August 2026.

UCB said Bimzelx expansion would "overcompensate the expected net sales decline of BRIVIACT due to loss of exclusivity in the U.S. and Europe."

CIMZIA, the second-largest product at €1.95 billion, declined 4% in net sales, with volume growth offset by net price declines. The drug is no longer patent-protected in the U.S. or EU, though UCB said no biosimilar competition is expected near-term.

KEPPRA net sales fell 25% to €439 million, reflecting generic competition and the divestment of UCB’s neurology portfolio in China in November 2024.

UCB’s Time to Access Index, which measures speed of patient reimbursement following regulatory approval, fell to 43% from 55% in 2024, below the company’s target. The Access Coverage Performance Index declined to 78% from 82%.

"We did not reach our TTA target in 2025 as negotiations with payers have taken longer than expected," the company said.

UCB guided 2026 revenue growth in a high single-digit to low double-digit percentage range at constant exchange rates. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to grow in a high single-digit to high teens percentage range at CER, or high teens to high twenties when corrected for 2025 one-offs.

The board recommended a dividend of €1.45 per share, up from €1.39 in 2024.