COLOPLAST - A company by people for the people? (Attention, very long, reading time: 25 minutes!)
I have had a position in Coloplast in my portfolio for some time. Whether I will further expand this, currently still small position, in the coming time, I will explain to you with the following full-length essay.
TL;DR: Coloplast is a company from Denmark. It operates in the healthcare sector, specifically ostomy and continence care. This company is relatively little in the focus and offers with its broad commitment to all investors interested in sustainability an interesting investment opportunity + dividend.
As a prelude to this text, I recommend watching Coloplast's image film. The mood allows a first insight on the following lines and my personal opinion on this investment. https://youtu.be/BczJSbplEHo (2 minutes)
Content:
- 1.Coloplast - the company and its history
- 2.medical background knowledge about stoma, continence and wound care
- 3.products from Coloplast and their customers
- 4.key figures
- 5.what makes the company a SRI/ESG company for me?
- 6.conclusion (& epilogue)
Coloplast - The company and its history
Coloplast A/S is a company from Denmark, which develops and offers products and services around the basic medical care of stoma and continence patients and affected persons, as well as wound care and skin care.
In Germany, the company also offers Coloplast Homecare, which focuses on home care services for ostomy and continence care.
The company has its roots in the work of Elise Sörensen, who developed the first plastic ostomy bag with self-adhesive contact surfaces on the skin for her sister Thora Sörensen in 1954.
In 1957 the company was founded in cooperation with the plastic manufacturer Louis-Hansen.
The artificial word Coloplast is derived from the word "colon", technically for intestine, and the "plastic" for the plastic material used in the ostomy bags.
In 1983, the company went public and at the same time established its first sales office in Germany, which currently has over 600 employees. The company as a whole employs over 11,000 people. [Sources 1 & 2]
The CEO of the company is Kristian Villumsen (born: 1970), who has been leading the company since 2018.
2.Medical background knowledge on ostomy, continence and wound care.
(Attention: Readers should be aware that medical details can only be given in layman's terms by me. Furthermore, it should be noted that details of medical problems may be covered here, which may cause anxiety reactions in some people - if you are one of them, skip paragraphs 2-3!)
Stoma:
The ancient Greek word in German stands for mouth, mouth opening or opening in general. In medicine, a distinction is made between the different types of stoma. Concerning this does the pharyngeal stoma, enterostoma (artificial intestinal outlet) and urostoma (artificial urinary outlet), tracheostoma (tracheal incisions), gastrostoma (stomach opening through the abdominal wall), ileostoma and jejunostoma (both opening variants to the part of the small intestine through the abdominal wall).
For the present company I would like to come briefly to the main points of the same. These are the enterostoma and the urostoma, which are covered by Coloplast with various products (see point 3).
The enterostoma is an artificial intestinal outlet. This artificially created anus through the abdominal wall of the patient is used to discharge excretions that cannot be discharged in the "natural" way due to tissue neoplasms, narrowing or obstruction in the lower area of the intestinal outlet, i.e. up to the anus.
A urostomy is an artificially created urinary outlet, which can also occur in the human bladder due to the above-mentioned phenomena. A special feature here is often the cancer diagnosis.
Basically, it can be said that most of the reasons for the creation of a stoma in the medical history of tumor patients (i.e. cancer patients). A good 70% of these patients have this medical history.
According to estimates, in Germany alone there are about 150.000 who live their daily lives with an artificial bowel outlet. [Source 3]
Stomas are generally created by surgery and are made through a so-called abdominal incision. In the case of stomas without major surgery, a minimally invasive surgical technique is also used, e.g. laparoscopy. One of the basic things before such operations is the postoperative marking of the stoma position in order to enable an optimal position of the stoma in all aspects of life, such as sitting, walking, lying and standing. In the course of this, external features such as skin folds are also taken into account in order to prevent poorly adherent stoma care and associated poorer quality of life.
Good to know: There are different types of enterostoma, which differ in surgical technique and permanence of the stoma. They can be made permanent or temporary (for temporary intestinal leakage, etc.).
Risks of stomas and their creation are naturally present in operations, which in rare cases reflect on the injury to the intestine, neighboring organs or vessels. Here it can come to blood poisoning, intestinal paralysis and in rare cases to fistula formation. Due to the constant development in the surgical and medical field, complications during the operation have become rather the rarity.
However, the focus of risks lies more in the postoperative and everyday phase of life with the stoma. Here, on the health side, skin irritations, bacterial inflammation of the discharge site, infections or bleeding can occur. In everyday life, there may also be complications in the durability of the stoma during sports activities.
Stoma patients no longer have control over the timing of bowel activity, or its expulsion, which consequently requires appropriate care and treatment.
Nevertheless: With a stoma itself, life can be continued as normal and unrestricted as possible, provided that the stoma is properly fitted and the patient takes good care of it. Sports, work and even sexual activities are possible normally! [Source 4]
Only when lifting weights one should limit oneself to about 10kg to avoid e.g. abdominal perforations.
Affected persons can make an application to determine the degree of care (especially for older, restricted persons). Furthermore, the degree of disability (GdB) can be applied for, which is usually at least 50% and thus entails a claim to a severe disability card with corresponding legal consequences. [Source 5]
Contact points for stoma patients in Germany are the Fachgesellschaft Stoma, Kontinenz und Wunde e.V. or die Deutsche ILCO e.V..
Continence:
In general, continence is first understood as the ability to retain bodily excretions and to trigger the excretory process in a voluntary, controlled manner. Various diseases such as bladder or kidney diseases, but also diarrhea and various diseases of the nervous system can lead to a (temporary or permanent) loss of this ability. This leads to the well-known urinary or fecal incontinence.
Such incontinence is stressful for those affected insofar as the involuntary and uncontrolled leakage of urine or excrement in everyday life "accidents" make social participation seem almost impossible.
Incontinence is not a marginal social issue! Sources estimate up to 10 million people in Germany alone. alone. Worldwide there are about 200 million people are affected by incontinence. [Source 6] - assuming 11.6 million families in Germany [Source 7], this would correspond to almost 1 affected person per family and thus to one's own environment.
In Germany, about 25% of all women and about 11% of men are affected by incontinence. Important figures on incontinence in men and women can be found at source 8.
Wounds and their care:
A wound is an injury to, and thus defect in, the protective covering tissue of skin or internal mucous membranes of body surfaces. Wounds can occur with or without tissue loss. Wounds are the result of violence but also diseases.
Along with the term wound there are different types of wounds. Mechanically caused wounds such as cuts, puncture wounds or bites; thermal wounds such as burns or frostbite; chemical wounds such as chemical burns on the skin or mucous membranes or radiation-induced wounds such as those caused by X-rays or UV radiation require corresponding forms of treatment and necessities of care.
An overview of different wound types can be found on a subpage of Colopast. HERE AGAIN URGENT WARNING: Under the link you will find real pictures of wound sites, which are NOT recommended for readers with appropriate sensitivity in this topic! [Source 9]
3.products from Coloplast
The above-mentioned clinical pictures, types of health restriction and the resulting problems in the everyday life of the affected persons result in urgently competent and above all sophisticated solutions, which must meet the highest medical and at the same time everyday requirements of the patients.
Coloplast has identified corresponding sub-areas for this purpose. These can be divided into stoma care, continence care, wound care and urology.
In the professional area of hospital and practice care, as well as user practice, Coloplast divides into stoma care, bladder management, bowel management and wound care. [Source 10]
Coloplast's customers include hospitals, medical wholesalers and specialty retailers, pharmacies, and physicians.
In the homecare segment, patients are addressed directly and given direct access to Coloplast's broad product range via the connected online store.
I want to add it here right away: With the best will in the world, I cannot list the entire horizon of Coloplast products here. The range of care, accessories and basic equipment is so broad and deep that this alone would mean another 10 minutes of scrolling in your timeline. Nevertheless, I want to publish briefly on the essential products that are interesting to me and meaningful for the consideration of the company.
What stands out about Coloplast's products is that the company is present in each of its market segments among the leaders, if not as the leader.
The reason for this lies in the development of new products close to the patient. Here, the focus is on cooperation with nurses and doctors. Through personal contact, including with patients, some very significant developments and advances have been made in the area of ostomy and wound care.
I will explain this idea and the actions around it in section 4 (What makes the company an SRI/ESG company for me?).
a. Products for stoma care:
Coloplast offers various systems for ostomy care. The Group distinguishes between one-piece and two-piece stoma bags. In the case of one-piece ostomy care, the pouch is firmly connected to a corresponding skin protection plate and is therefore always changed completely and daily. With the two-piece ostomy supply, the so-called base plate remains attached to the abdomen and the outlet site for 3-5 days, thus reducing the daily time required for changing the ostomy bag.
Since the skin under the supply with the one-piece supply is heavily stressed, patients often opt for the less stressful variant of the two-piece supply, whereas patients also reach for the one-piece supply, since here the daily change of the complete system is perceived as more hygienic. In addition to the two systems of care, Coloplast offers patients a wide range of accessories for a self-determined life. These include skin protection cream, wipes, extension products, but also technical accessories.
The main focus of stoma care are the so-called stoma bags, which are available in different designs, shapes and application techniques. Depending on the daily stress or activity, such as sports, individual solutions are required.
A distinction is made between the three main categories of closed, open and urostomy pouch systems.
Closed pouches are usually used for colostomata (i.e. large intestine openings), where the stool is usually rather solid. When the bag is full, it is completely replaced and disposed of.
Open bags are usually used for ileostomata (openings in the small intestine), where the stool is usually liquid. Nevertheless, sometimes the open bag is also used for colostomata. As the name suggests, the open pouch can be emptied and cleaned accordingly. The advantage here is that the pouch does not have to be changed as frequently as with the closed system pouch.
The third bag is the urostoma bag, which is used for artificial urinary diversion. This bag can also be emptied and changed as needed.
Depending on the type of stoma fitting (one-piece or two-piece), there are so-called base plates for the fitting, which function according to a click-and-connect system. In the case of two-part ostomy care, the corresponding pouch can thus be easily and conveniently removed from the base plate and appropriate disposal and care can be ensured.
In general, all pouches and base plates are available for ALL age groups. Thus, even children as young as 6 months can be supplied with appropriate plates and pouches!
The large selection of products shows that Coloplast operates very close to the reality of life of many of its patients and offers appropriate solutions.
Users and professionals can purchase Coloplast products directly in the respective online stores. For this purpose the Onlineshop (Beutel und Systemzubehör) or the Homecare Shop mit verschiedenen Pflegeprodukten is available.
b. Continence care products
For continence care, Coloplast provides SpeediCath ®, a solution with disposable catheters. Here, special consideration is given to the sensitive urethra and catheterization (i.e. insertion into the urethra) is made easier for both men and women with uniform coatings and ready-to-use designs.
For men, the SpeediCath system is divided into Flex, Compact, Compact Set and SpediCath.
For women, SpeediCath is divided into Compact Eve, Compact Plus, Compact Set and Standard.
All systems have discretion, simplicity of use and safety as features. Here, the options for use are very individual and sometimes go a long way towards meeting the different needs of patients.
The range of catheters and their scope of application is both deep and broad. Especially for the flexibility in everyday life at work, leisure activities and sports, the products are very well adapted.
Further information can be found at: https://www.coloplast.de/Kontinenzversorgung/finden-sie-das-passende-produkt/
c. Wound care products
In the field of wound care, Coloplast offers various solutions ranging from dressings, plasters and gels. Corresponding solutions are available with foam composite solutions, silicones or other fiber composites. Here, too, the range is very broad.
Solutions are offered for both infected and non-infected wound sites.
Further information on wound care products can be found at: https://www.coloplast.de/Wundversorgung/fachkraft/produktloesungen/
4.Key figures
Coloplast always publishes the current annual report and annual report in November due to the postponed fiscal year. Accordingly, the latest annual report is available with the 9 month report (3rd quarter fiscal year 2021/22) until June 2022. I will be happy to submit the latest report on 07.11.2022!
The quarterly report for the third quarter of 2021/2022 shows that a turnover of DKK 5.849 million was reported compared to DKK 4.835 million in the previous year. The net profit amounted to DKK 1.289 million. This corresponds to earnings of DKK 6.06 per share. Sales in the first 9 months of the financial year amounted to DKK 16.52 million, compared with DKK 14.32 million in the same period last year. Net profit is therefore DKK 3.476 million compared to last year's DKK 3.52 million. [Source 11]
The P/E ratio in 2021 was 37.38. The KUV in 2021 was 9.26.
A dividend yield of 2.25% on a 12-month basis, i.e., DKK 19 (EUR 2.55) per share certificate, is planned for the current year. The company has so far paid out dividends twice a year. While a small preliminary dividend flows in May of the fiscal year, the main dividend is then paid in December.
The exchange rate DKK to EURO is: 7.446 (as of 25.10.2022)
The last annual report with a lot of information about the company can be found directly on the pages of the Investor Relations von Coloplast.
Basically, the Investor Relations page of the company can also be praised. All reports and key figures can be found here, and relevant historical events and presentations can be searched for and read.
Various statistics and reports can also be found on the topic of "sustainability".
Further (current) key figures can be found at aktie.traderfox.com read up on.
5 What makes Coloplast an SRI/ESG company for me?
Dealing with customers and those affected by stoma and continence care:
As can be seen from the previous sections, the company's main focus is to provide people with medically necessary products that make everyday life easier in the case of a corresponding clinical picture. Various solutions are offered, which are closely oriented to the users and those affected.
The company's motto is: "By users, for users". Customers and caregivers can constantly suggest improvements and tips for the products and give feedback via special hotlines and channels.
The company then further develops the corresponding solutions and products in response to this feedback and can thus benefit from the experience of its own customers. A true win-win situation for both sides.
And if that is not enough... There is an internal customer council for each of the two core areas of the product range! These advise the company in direct communication on products and services. [Source 12]
In all areas of patients' lives, Coloplast provides assistance and offers solutions in every conceivable scenario.
At Coloplast, concern for those affected begins BEFORE any possible treatment with the company's products. This becomes clear in the area of stoma care, where detailed attention is paid to patients. Thus one can supply oneself with references before the Stomaoperation, after the Stomaoperation and a life with Stoma.
In addition all information is made available free of charge, with examples directly descriptive represented, important and meaningful Tipps for a life organization with Stoma given. Also relatives of stoma patients are directly "picked up" and thus involved.
Hours, if not days, go by just reading the information provided on stoma and continence. I, too, first had to process what I had read and let it take effect. And nevertheless: The entire appearance and the handling of the enterprise with its working in this range hardly leave an open question. The company never gives interested visitors the feeling that it is focused on profit, but rather on people, patients and their relatives.
Posts about the company's topics are shared on the various social media channels. Podcasts provide insights into the lives of people with stomas and incontinence. On Youtube, there are countless instructions for the correct care of ostomies and use of catheters and ostomy supplies.
I recommend here expressly the Youtube Präsenz von Coloplastwhich includes deep and especially worth seeing impressions about the portfolio, the assistance in everyday life and other topics around the care of loved ones. Rarely have I seen such "passion" for one's own clientele!
A big and natural topic for Coloplast is "inclusion". This is about the participation and affiliation of people affected by illness in general, professional and (free-time) sporting life. In life with illness (and especially with regard to Coloplast's special business), affected people often experience stigmatization and social restriction. The company distinguishes itself by breaking down this barrier and putting people at the center. For the second time, the company has conducted a study on the topic of "inclusion" together with the FORSA Institute. The results can be found at Coloplast und Inklusion read about the results.
Ein Podcast and ein Blog report close to the patients and the everyday life of stoma patients.
In addition, there are various regularly published magazines as a FREE SUBSCRIBE on the topics of stoma (Wendepunkt magazine), continence (Perspektiven magazine) and a magazine for relatives and carers (Collegial magazine). The magazines can be ordered FREE by anyone or read online. [Source 13]
With Coloplast products, people with stoma or continence problems regain a great deal of freedom and participation. Favourite occupations and sporting activities can be continued without restriction as far as possible. Due to discreet and simple handling, outsiders sometimes no longer recognize any impairment in your counterpart. As a result, patients' self-confidence and independence can grow and they experience no restrictions in life and their environment.
The health group is also active in the field of education and teaching. Thus, various seminars are offered for professional users in the medical field.
In particular, the service around the home care of patients occupies a large space at Coloplast. Coloplast Homecare is an all-round carefree package for all stoma and continence patients. Within the framework of this package, advice, support for preoperative stoma marking (see section 2!), customization of products, nutritional advice and guidance by trained stoma specialists are provided.
The counseling service offers various contact options, including video chat, postal contact, e-mail or chats, but also on-site visits in the personal living environment of the person seeking help.
The offer is basically available to all stoma and continence patients under https://www.coloplast-homecare.de/ available.
The company's internal handling of guidelines for SRI (Socially Responsible Investing) and SDG (Sustainable Development Goals):
Coloplast has proclaimed internally the goal of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a guiding principle for corporate action. The SDG is a political declaration of the "17 Sustainable Development Goals" by the UN, which applies to all countries in the world. According to this, the securing of sustainable development on an economic, social and ecological level is the declared goal for a global future. [Source 14]
Internally, the company acts according to the self-developed goals and the project Strive25. This project includes essential features of corporate culture, sustainable growth and leadership management.
The decisive factor here is sustainability in relation to the environment, but also social commitment. Growth should be characterized by innovation and sustainability. Through leadership management, the company wants to become and be a leader in all aspects of the company and its segments.
The special feature of Strive25 is the fact that the 4 topics - innovation, (incomparable; sic!) efficiency, sustainability, talent and leadership - are equally distributed in their weighting with the three main business areas as a unit and integral component are seen.
All areas of the SRI "standards" [source 15] are addressed by Coloplast. Be it equal rights and the inclusion of women in management levels, the integration of physically handicapped employees or the aspects of environmental protection.
By its very nature, Coloplast is a major producer of plastic. This is mainly due to the nature of the products and their characteristics, namely hygiene and application practice. Here, therefore, the focus is on waste prevention, low-pollutant production and sustainable durability or recycling of the materials used. The Strive25 charter sets out the sustainable goals for the period up to 2025.
These include recycling 90% of the packaging produced, ensuring that 80% of the packaging is made of recycled or renewable material and that 50% of the production waste can be recycled.
Among the social responsibilities, in addition to the reduction and prevention of accidents at work, there is also the equality between the different life plan models and genders (diversity), the elimination of the gender gap (different remuneration for the same work and skills for men and women) and the Decent Work and related economic growth of the company. In addition, Coloplast is committed to promoting and appointing more women to management positions. The goal is to reach at least 30% by 2025. [Source 16]
6.Conclusion (& Epilogue):
Market Leader + Social Responsibility = BULLISH. 🚀
What more is there to say now? In this detailed excursion into the company and its business area, I probably haven't even compiled all the topics and information for you that the websites, social media channels, and numerous brochures have to offer.
The company offers affected people an all-round carefree package of information, care and products that make life easier, more inclusive and, above all, more carefree.
Due to the progressive aging of our society, but also the constant medical advancements, a large customer base can be expected in the future. The advantage of leadership, i.e. the leading position in the market segments of the company compared to its competitor is great. Market competitors (rivals) include the following companies Hollister and ConvaTec.
The company leads a strict policy of sustainable development and implements these goals in an overall business perspective. Of course, this process and all the "trappings" cost a lot of money, but in my opinion there can hardly be a better way than the one Coloplast has chosen, especially when dealing with people.
For me, this is clearly a reason why I will continue to hold the company in my savings plan in the coming year or build it up in my portfolio with individual purchases.
Epilog:
I have felt steadily growing admiration and respect for all involved and employed in the health and care field during the course of my extensive research on disease patterns and their treatment as well as care. Thank you for being there for people, whether they are caregivers, nurses, doctors or physicians, family members or friends of patients on this spectrum! What I gained there in terms of insight and pictorial representation is definitely not for everyone. It shows me how much we should be grateful that there are people like. @Koenigmidas , @Servus_Lea@Anna11 , @FrauManu , @Greenery and others, who spend their health, nerves and time every day to care for patients and make a full life possible.
NO INVESTMENT ADVICE, BUT WITH A LOT OF LOVE.
Greetings also to the boyz of #tldr . @DonkeyInvestor
@BASS-T and the Prosepect @Koenigmidas !
For statistics: words - 4,013, characters without spaces 28,123 + ♥️
Sources:
[1] The history of our brand (https://www.coloplast.de/ueber_uns/unternehmen/coloplast-geschichte/)
[2] Wikipedia about Coloplast (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloplast)
[3] Cancer Society on ostomy indicators (https://www.krebsgesellschaft.de/onko-internetportal/basis-informationen-krebs/krebsarten/darmkrebs/anus-praeter-der-kuenstliche-darmausgang.html#:~:text=Stomas%20helfen%20Darmkrebspatienten&text=Leben%20mit%20Darmkrebs%20bedeutet%20f%C3%BCr,150.000%20Menschen%20mit%20einem%20Stoma.)
[4] Wikipedia on enterostoma (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterostoma)
[5] Living with CED on "My rights with stoma" (https://www.leben-mit-ced.de/informieren/leben-mit-ced/stoma-hilfsmittel/morbus-crohn-und-colitis-ulcerosa-meine-rechte-mit-stoma.html#:~:text=Als%20Stomatr%C3%A4ger%20erh%C3%A4ltst%20Du%20vermutlich,viele%20der%20gesetzlich%20vorgesehenen%20Nachteilsausgleiche.)
[6] Incontinence facts and figures incl. infographics (https://www.insenio.de/ratgeber/inkontinenz-zahlen-und-fakten/#:~:text=Inkontinenz%20betrifft%20allein%20in%20Deutschland,M%C3%A4nner%20in%20Deutschland%20sind%20inkontinent.)
[7] Federal Agency for Civic Education on family households in Germany (https://www.bpb.de/kurz-knapp/zahlen-und-fakten/soziale-situation-in-deutschland/61597/familienhaushalte-nach-zahl-der-kinder/#:~:text=Werden%20unter%20dem%20Begriff%20%22Familie,Deutschland%2011%2C6%20Millionen%20Familien.)
[8] Statistics on female and male incontinence (https://frauengesundheit.life/tabuthema-inkontinenz-zahlen-daten-fakten)
[9] Wound knowledge overview on the pages of Coloplast [ATTENTION! Graphic content on wounds!] (https://www.coloplastprofessional.de/wundversorgung/wundwissen/)
[10] Coloplast Professional (https://www.coloplastprofessional.de/wundversorgung?utm_content=coloplast-professional&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzqXYzIL7-gIVUKHVCh3gvQm_EAAYASAAEgKm-PD_BwE)
[11] 9 Monthly Report (3rd Quarter) 2021/2022 from August 2022 ( https://investor.coloplast.com/contentassets/fcd65edf83ab483484ad81d63f284fad/07_2022_9m_earnings_release.pdf)
[12] The customer council and customer dialogue at Coloplast (https://www.coloplast.de/ueber_uns/servicewelt/kundendialog/)
[13] Coloplast magazines on the topics of stoma, continence and care (https://www.coloplast.de/ueber_uns/servicewelt/magazine/)
[14] The 17 SDG goals of the UN (https://sdgs.un.org/goals)
[15] SRI investing at Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethisches_Investment)
[16] Strive25 Charter of Coloplast (https://www.coloplastprofessional.de/globalassets/content-blocks/multisite-pages/sustainability/cp_sustainability_brochure_a4_final_single-pages_09082021.pdf)
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