Farmexpert Turnover Up 38% in Q1

Cosmina CapAlĂu

Farmexpert DCI reported a turnover of 56.83 million EUR at the end of the first quarter of 2009, up by approximately 38% from the corresponding period of 2008. The increase in sales also reflected on the company"s market share, which reached 11.06%, placing the company on the second position among pharmaceutical distributors in Romania.

The management explained that the growth was the result of the expansion of the product portfolio, new partnerships with internal and international producers and advanced training programmes for the sales force. The company also reported a year 2008 turnover of 184.3 million EUR and a net profit of 4.2 million EUR.

Farmexpert"s objectives for this year include a turnover of 245 million EUR, the same market share and investments of 4 million EUR in starting a new logistic platform in Chitila, near Bucharest.

• Crisis likely to hamper demand for pharmaceutical products

The current financial context is affecting all economic sectors to one degree or another. The Farmexpert management expects that the economic crisis will significantly slow down the growth of the pharmaceutical market this year. The exchange rate fluctuations play a distinctive role in this respect. Farmexpert Executive Manager Cezar Zaharia expects that "the pharmaceutical market will achieve moderate growth in 2009, probably up to 10%, based on an estimated average exchange rate of 4.3 RON per euro."

Referring to the company"s development this year, Executive Manager Octavian Iacob stated: "We are convinced that the objectives we have defined are realistic and achievable and that the year 2009 will reinforce our evolution on the same coordinates, consolidating our leadership on the pharmaceutical distribution market. We will continue to rely on the same growth drivers - constant investments in logistic, infrastructure, personnel training and, of course, sustainable partnerships with all our partners. We are confident in our future, but we also expect that our growth will be slower in the third and fourth quarters, because of the current economic context, which will also affect this market," Iacob concluded. He stressed that profitability in the pharmaceutical distribution business was generally low.

In turn, Cezar Zaharia added that "the highest risk we have at the moment is related to the collection of our receivables. This risk has been increasing despite the fact that our payment deadlines are very extensive. Even so, the Farmexpert management expects to close the year with a profit of 5.2 million EUR, of which 1.1 million EUR was already secured in the first quarter.

Octavian Iacob, Executive Manager of Farmexim DCI: "Our growth will be slower in the third and fourth quarters, because of the current economic context."