Romania's one-off expenses drag down Zentiva's profit

Czech company Zentiva, one of the top three drug manufacturers on the domestic market, registered one-off costs worth 200 million Czech Korunas (7.14 million euros) in Romania in the first half of this year, which could prompt an operating income below the expectations of the entire group. On Friday, Zentiva published preliminary data on its website concerning the financial results registered in the first half of this year. According to the data, the company’s expenses on the Romanian market will affect the net sales, net profit and operating income. The group’s lower than expected operating performance is a result of the price erosion witnessed on the Czech market and of ongoing investments in marketing and sales. One-off costs of the subsidiary are due to a provision against receivables and an inventory write-off, according to Zentiva information. The Czech stock exchange took a sudden plunge on Friday, amid the massive sales of Zentiva shares, according to Forbes. Zentiva shares fell by 16.28% on the Prague Stock Exchange, according to the same source. The Czech company will publish its final results for the first half of this year on August 6th. Also on Friday, on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, Zentiva announced the resignation of Mariana Wencz (photo) from her position as country general manager. Her job has been temporarily taken over by Jozef Belcik, regional manager for the Balkans, an area encompassing operations in Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova.