[1/2] A logo is pictured on the Ibex building of Lonza, where the Moderna mRNA coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine will be produced, in Visp, Switzerland, September 29, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File PhotoJan 25 (Reuters) - Lonza (LONN.S) on Wednesday said it will buy back shares worth 2 billion Swiss francs ($2.17 billion), despite an expected drop in annual margins, as the Swiss drug contract manufacturer backed its growth prospects for the near future. Lonza expects its 2023 core earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA margin, to slip between 30% and 31%, down from 32.1% in 2022, as last year's boost from COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing services waned. The Basel-based company, however, reiterated a target of 33%-35% for 2024 marginsand announced a 17% rise in its annual dividend. The Swiss group forecast sales growth in the "high single-digit" adjusted for currency swings, a slow-down from the 15.1% rise it saw last year.

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