German drug group's turnover tops €400m here

GERMAN drug group Celesio says its turnover in Ireland has topped €400 million for the first nine months of the year.

Celesio said turnover at Cahill May Roberts, its wholesale pharmacy division, increased by 18.8% to €318.7 million in the nine months to the end of September. It said the growth came despite intense price competition in the Irish market. Though it did not release profits for its Irish operations, it said they were in line with internal forecasts.

It said Cahill May Roberts has won a nationwide contract to supply doctors with vaccines.

The double-digit growth at CMR will be good news for Celesio. Not long after CMR was acquired, it reported a steep fall in turnover because of restructuring at its three facilities in Ireland.

The company also reported strong sales at its chemist arm Unicare. The 55-strong chain saw revenues rise by 8.7% to €82.4m, boosted by non-pharmacy sales.

"Unicare pharmacy expanded its traditional range of photography processing.

"There was also high demand for digital film development which was introduced in some pharmacies. Pre-tax profit was in line with expectation," it said.

Though it did not break out Irish profit, based on group profit margins, it would have earned in the region of €5m. Overall, Celesio said it group turnover was just 3% higher at €14.2bn with pre-tax profits of €329.4m for the period.

The company said it was on the look-out for new acquisitions in Europe.

"We want to build up briskly in Europe and grow our market presence," Celesio chief executive Fritz Oesterle said yesterday.

"We will strengthen our position through acquisitions," added Mr Oesterle.