Help Net sees 40% growth

Drugstore chain Help Net estimates a 40% surge in sales this year, up to some $12 million as compared with $8.5 million in 2002. The increasing number of pharmacies fuelled the boost in sales from $2.3 million in 2000 and $4.2 million in 2001. Company officials say the strategy will maintain in the next years. Help Net will invest $150,000 in the following period to increase the number of pharmacies from 22 to 26. “The expansion will take place throughout the country, as well as in Bucharest because we want to consolidate our position in the Capital, but we also intend to have a balanced presence nationwide,” Help Net general manager Isabella Iacob said.

According to the company’s data, Help Net attained 12.5% market share this year, up from 6% in 2002, on the Bucharest drugstore market.

“Our company has initially focused only on Bucharest, where opening new pharmacies is quite a challenge. The pharmaceutical retail market has reached maturity here, and that is why new pharmacies take more time to open than in other cities. There are 19 Help Net pharmacies in Bucharest for the time being,” Isabella Iacob mentioned. The pharmacy market in Romania is very fragmented and there are few companies that actually managed to open several dozen pharmacies.

For instance, the largest operator on the market, the Sensiblu network, now totals 60 pharmacies, out of which 35 are based in Bucharest. As there are several thousands drugstores nationwide, the companies are expecting a wave of mergers and acquisitions, which will consolidate the market.

The Sensiblu network is held by A&D Holdings, while Help Net is controlled by the Farmexim group. Farmexim is one of Romania’s main drug distributors. The distribution unit of Farmexim Bucharest estimates $39 million in turnover this year, up 21% from 2002. Farmexim officials say the company owns 8.33% of the retail market. laurentiu.ispir@zf.ro