Eurofins celebrates 35 years of Testing for Life
This October marks 35 years since the foundation of Eurofins in Nantes, France in 1987, and growth from one start-up laboratory and three employees to the global leader in bio-analysis with ca. 62,000 staff across a network of over 900 laboratories in 62 countries. In the year 2021, Eurofins laboratories around the world carried out over 450 million tests, safeguarding the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink and the everyday products we use, as well as to ensure the quality and efficacy of the diagnostics, treatments and medicines we rely on when we are unwell. In adherence to its mission of Testing for Life, the Company’s scientists and entrepreneurs work continuously to innovate new tests, optimise service quality for customers and improve agility to keep people and the environment safe. This has been clearly demonstrated by Eurofins’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its development and processing of around 50 million PCR tests since the onset of the public health crisis.
Eurofins’ scientists have contributed significantly to the advancement of testing. The complexity of our analyses, often searching for the minutest traces of a substance, mean our activities in these areas sometimes take years of research and ongoing improvements to our numerous methods. Through painstaking work, our scientists have made discoveries and advancements in a myriad of sectors, ranging from food testing to biopharma research and forensics, improving cancer treatments and outcomes for transplant patients and even safeguarding the health of bees. Underpinning our work in these areas and more, Eurofins has one of the world’s largest and most varied databases, rich with fingerprints of thousands upon thousands of foodstuffs, pathogens and drugs.
October also marks 25 years since the initial public offering (IPO) of Eurofins Scientific on the Paris stock exchange on 24th October 1997. According to a commissioned study by an independent research firm, in the 25 years since its IPO, Eurofins has delivered a remarkable total shareholder return (reflecting both share price appreciation and reinvestment of dividends) of around 36,600%, equivalent to a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 27%. Among all companies with listings in major European exchanges over the 25 year time span, Eurofins ranks highest in terms of total shareholder return, according to the research firm. This result reiterates the findings of a previous commissioned study in 2017, which found that Eurofins’ total shareholder return was the highest in Europe during the 20 years since its IPO. If the peer group was expanded to include companies trading on US exchanges in the 25 years since October 1997, Eurofins would rank fourth, only behind Monster Beverage (CAGR 34%), Apple (CAGR 32%) and Amazon (CAGR 28%). Put another way, a hypothetical investment of around €2,700 in Eurofins at the time of its IPO, plus the reinvestment of dividends, would be worth about €1 million today. This result is a testament to the talent and dedication of Eurofins teams to provide an exceptional level of service to their clients and to generate sustainable shareholder value.
Not a typical centralised laboratory group, the Eurofins network is, by design, a hub of entrepreneurship, and this agility has led to the creation of over 200 startups and the integration of nearly 500 acquisitions since its IPO. Each Eurofins company operates as a dynamic, market-driven business in its own right, managed by its own independent entrepreneurial leader, constantly striving for improvement. The entire Eurofins organisation stands behind each entrepreneur, supporting them with a state-of-the-art laboratory network infrastructure, the most comprehensive analytical service portfolio for clients, the very latest testing technologies, bespoke advanced digital solutions and access to the unrivalled expertise and experience of the Eurofins network. Eurofins firmly believes that the diverse and decentral nature of the network contributes to its strength, capability to innovate and entrepreneurship. This culture of diversity and inclusion was recognised by the Financial Times, which named Eurofins a „Leader in Diversity” in 2020.
Dr Gilles Martin, CEO and Founder of Eurofins, comments: ”This milestone for our network of laboratories is an opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made to date. I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to our global workforce for their commitment and efforts and to the clients of all Eurofins companies for their trust. I also very much look forward to the next decade and the undoubtably great achievements still ahead of us.
We will continue to refine our service offering and significantly invest in and strengthen our network. Through focussed investments in our unique laboratory network and IT solutions, R&D, acquisitions and organic growth, we intend to continue to complement, improve and extend our capabilities to offer the best and most innovative testing services to our clients. Our long-term vision is to offer our clients a complete portfolio of the very best Testing for Life services globally, while creating further opportunities for our employees and shareholders.”
After 35 years of large and focussed investments, Eurofins has now built an unmatched platform and a size that makes possible even more significant breakthroughs in innovation and service to clients. Eurofins’ dedication to contributing to the health and safety of all and to protecting our environment that has defined the evolution of the business to date is further extended through its commitment to carbon neutrality by 2025 and through the work of the Eurofins Foundation, establised in 2019, which supports initiatives globally working to protect the environment, improve nutrition and health, promote inclusion, diversity and equality and student reseach in these fields.
To mark its 35th anniversary, Eurofins has developed a book charting its development and growth, highlighting its innovations, breakthroughs and the global crises it has responded to, and showcasing interesting anecdotes and stories about achievements and activity of its laboratories over the past three decades and beyond. The book can be viewed here.
For further information:
Investor Relations
Eurofins Scientific SE
Phone: +32 2 766 1620
About Eurofins – the global leader in bio-analysis
Eurofins is Testing for Life. Eurofins is the global leader in food, environment, pharmaceutical and cosmetic product testing, and in discovery pharmacology, forensics, advanced material sciences and agroscience Contract Research services. Eurofins is also a market leader in certain testing and laboratory services for genomics, and in the support of clinical studies, as well as in BioPharma Contract Development and Manufacturing. The Group also has a rapidly developing presence in highly specialised and molecular clinical diagnostic testing and in-vitro diagnostic products.
With ca. 62,000 staff across a decentralised and entrepreneurial network of over 900 laboratories in 62 countries, Eurofins offers a portfolio of over 200,000 analytical methods to evaluate the safety, identity, composition, authenticity, origin, traceability and purity of a wide range of products, as well as providing innovative clinical diagnostic testing services and in-vitro diagnostic products.
The Group’s objective is to provide its customers with high-quality services, innovative solutions and accurate results on time. Eurofins is ideally positioned to support its clients’ increasingly stringent quality and safety standards and the increasing demands of regulatory authorities as well as the requirements of healthcare practitioners around the world.
In 2020 and 2021, Eurofins reacted quickly to meet the global challenge of COVID-19, by creating the capacity to help over 20 million patients monthly who may have been impacted by the pandemic with our testing products and our services and directly supporting healthcare professionals working on the front line to fight the virus. The Group has established widespread PCR testing capabilities and has carried out over 40 million tests in its own laboratories, is supporting the development of a number of vaccines and has established its SAFER@WORK™ testing, monitoring and consulting programmes to help ensure safer environments, travel and events during COVID-19.
Eurofins has grown very strongly since its inception and its strategy is to continue expanding its technology portfolio and its geographic reach. Through R&D and acquisitions, the Group draws on the latest developments in the field of biotechnology and analytical chemistry to offer its clients unique analytical solutions.
Shares in Eurofins Scientific are listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange (ISIN FR0014000MR3, Reuters EUFI.PA, Bloomberg ERF FP).