Antibiotice hit by tax raise

Drugmaker Antibiotice Iasi saw its net profits drop in the first nine months of the year by around 13% to 2.35 million euros. Turnover rose 2% to 23.4 million euros. The main cause for the drop was the raising of the tax levied on drug exporters from the 6% of last year to 25%, said Ioan Nani, Antibiotice’s chief executive, adding that exports account for around 25% of the company’s turnover. Antibiotice makes more than 7 million euros a year from exports to 35 countries and, according to Nani, accounts for more than 10% of the international Vitamin B12 market. The company expects a full-year turnover of 32.5 million euros, up 10% from 2003, and gross profits of over 4 million euros. Antibiotice will soon begin an investment of approximately 2.5 million euros aimed mainly at upgrading and retooling its production platform (1.5 million euros) and environmental protection measures ( 0.75 million euros). ZF