Terapia sales steady, profit up

Terapia Cluj Napoca, Romania’s second-largest drugmaker, saw profit up 30% in dollars in nine months this year, whereas turnover maintained at some $23-24 million.

The company reported net profit worth $7 million in Q3, 2003, up from $5.3 million in the year-ago period. Turnover went up 10% in ROL, below the 14% inflation rate in the same period.

“The turnover in dollars did not budge, as Terapia was still selling calcium pantothenate last year, which accounted for 15%-20% of the total sales. However, this stagnation is rather a performance because it is due to an increase in drug sales, which are the most important to us from a strategic perspective,” Dorin Toderas, general manager of Terapia Cluj, told Ziarul Financiar.

The company, which was taken over by the US financial group Advent International, gave up the calcium pantothenate output last year, because of profitability and environmental issues. The company then focused entirely on drugs.

“Drug sales grew more than 50% in dollars due to the launch of new products, namely in the field of nutrition and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, as well as due to the portfolio structure, which helped us during these difficult times for the healthcare system. As they were significantly cheaper than the imported drugs, our products were less affected by the delays in the compensation system,” Toderas added.

Terapia is one of the main players on the fragmented Romanian drug market, together with GlaxoSmithKline (the market leader), Novartis, Pfizer, Sicomed Bucharest and Antibiotice Iasi. Terapia controls some 4% of the market.

The Romanian drug market is worth some 600 million euros annually and 2003 has been one of the most difficult years since 1999, as the state owes more than 250 million euros to the drugmakers and distributors. laurentiu.ispir@zf.ro