Biofarm sales slightly down

The leading Romanian natural drugs maker Biofarm Bucharest saw its sales slide from 9.3 million euros in 2001 to 9.1 million euros in 2002. Profit followed suit and went down from 2.8 million euros in 2001 to 2.73 million euros in 2002. In spite of the slight decline, the company is better-off financially than it was two years ago. Back in 2000, Biofarm was posting $7.4 million revenues and about $500,000 net profit. The slight sales decline at a time of market growth could be caused to a certain extent by the company’s modernisation efforts in view of obtaining the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certifications, which must be completed by yearend. “We began an extensive investment programme last year, the first step of which was consolidating a building and concluding a 3 million euro modernisation contract. We estimate the entire investment project to be worth 6 million euros,” the Biofarm officials explained in a report filed with RASDAQ, where the company is listed. Biofarm is a medium-sized player on an over 600 million euro fragmented drug market and accounts for about 1.5% of this market. ZF