Annual Report 2003 - Nobel Biocare Corporate

NOBEL BIOCARE ANNUAL REPORT 200317The 2 300 international participants,encompassing 700 general practitioners,were given the opportunityto participate in a world class scientificprogram, including two live surgerieswith the Teeth-in-an-Hour conceptdemonstrating dental implantrestorations with immediate functioningteeth. There was also a widerange of lectures, exhibits and workshopstargeting different customergroups.Training and educationThe intensified efforts in training andeducation have resulted in a dramaticgrowth in the number of dentistsparticipating in the courses. In 2003,Nobel Biocare trained 110 000 dentistscompared to 70 000 the previous year.Training and education activities arebased on the customer’s need to offerpatients high esthetic solutions forlost teeth and Nobel Biocare’s C&B&Iconcept where both implants andcrowns and bridges are integrated.The programs are segmented towardsgeneral practitioners and specialistsand include hands-on activities with afocus on both surgery and prosthetics.Training days are combined withinteractive material on CD’s, webbasedlearning programs and manualsand other written communication.Not all participants will start placingimplants. Some will do the prostheticpart of the treatment; others will continueas before. However, all of themwill be better informed on the therapyand able to present the solution totheir patients.In order to give easy access to continuoustraining, Nobel Biocare hasintroduced NobelOnline, which is aninternet training program for dentistsaround the globe. Internet trainingmakes it possible for hundreds ofdentists to participate in the samelecture and learn about the latestfindings without having to leave theiroffices.Sales growthThe increased focus on sales growthresulted in revenue increasing by19.0 percent in local currencies tototal EUR 334.0 million (311.2),excluding sales of the discontinuedGore regenerative products. For thenew core products, the revenuegrowth was well above 20 percent.All core markets, and in particular theUS, Germany and Japan, experiencedstrong sales acceleration towards theend of 2003. The strongest trends forthe full year were noted in the Nordiccountries, Spain, France and Japan.Sales of the Replace system continuedto run at exceptionally highlevels as a result of its user-friendlyapproach. The major part of thegrowth in the general practitionersegment came from Replace.A larger number of general practitionersoffering implant treatmenthas clearly led to more cases beingreferred to specialists carrying outdifficult cases, resulting in a positivegrowth trend for Brånemark Systemas well.The launch of the Procera Piccoloscanner resulted in extremely strongsales, confirming the interest in highendceramic prosthetics from smalland medium-sized dental laboratories.This will be a sound platform forfuture sales increase.Distribution of sales (%)504030201004737115Added salespersonnel (%)1612840+6+16-2 -2SalesOthersFocus on training andeducation (participants)120,00090,00060,00030,00050,00070,000110,000Revenue growth in localcurrencies* (%)25201510511.619.510.916.319.724.12002200316.424.0EuropeNorthAmericaAsia/PacificRest ofthe World-42002 200302001 2002 20030EuropeNorthAmericaAsia/PacificRest ofthe World*excl. sales of Gore products