A&D Pharma sees 7% growth in Q3, to over 131m euros

A&D Pharma, the largest player on the Romanian pharmaceutical market, posted a 7.2% sales rise in euros in the third quarter of the year and a 27% increase in RON, to 131.7 million euros against the similar period in 2008. In the first half of the year, sales in euros were lower than in the corresponding period of last year. The pharmaceutical group reported a 364.6 million-euro turnover in the first nine months of the year, down 3% (in euros) against the similar period of 2008. In RON, the company saw a 12% advance. The group’s profit is not mentioned in the quarterly report. “We continue to implement cost-cutting measures in order to improve profitability (…) As opportunities arise, we will take advantage of them as we said when we announced negotiations for five takeovers in Eastern European countries,” said Robert Popescu, CEO of A&D Pharma. Recently the group announced it was interested in acquiring several companies involved in drug import, marketing, sales and distribution in Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, in which A&D Pharma shareholders hold controlling stakes. In order to integrate these companies, A&D Pharma will use the 100 million-euro loan attracted in the summer from BCR, BRD, Citibank Europe, RBS Bank Romania and UniCredit Bank Austria.

The group is structured into three divisions, with the biggest one, the distribution division, reporting a 5% rise to 266 million euros. The Sensiblu drugstore chain, which operates 220 drugstores, had the best progression, recording a 22% rise to 135.7 million euros in the first nine months of the year. On the other hand, the marketing & sales division recorded a 55% business decline, “mainly because of the product portfolio restructuring, but also because of products being recategorised among the divisions.”