United Drug make big gains

UNITED Drug has achieved strong growth in the first quarter of the current financial year, chairman Martin Rafferty said yesterday.

He told shareholders at the annual general meeting in Dublin it was particularly pleasing that United’s wholesale pharmaceutical division had made further gains, as independent retail pharmacists continued to transfer their business to the group.

“So far as United Drug is concerned there is nothing that we can see that will have any material effect on the affairs of United Drug in the years ahead,” he said.

“We are just as confident this year as we have been in any of our previous 18 years in terms of how the

company will fare this year and beyond.”

On the potential impact of generic drugs, Mr Rafferty in response to a question said it was something “we always have in mind and watch as to what the trend is regard to generics”.

The wholesale division was well on top of any movement or any likelihood of movement in regard to generics, he said.

“I would say in so far as anything may affect United Drug we don’t see that there would be anything in regard to generics that would have any material effect on our business.”

After the meting, chief executive Liam Fitzgerald outlined the growing importance of British market, including Northern Ireland, to the group.

Recently, 45% of group profits derive from the group’s British operations.

“That will move upward over the next few years as we expand organically and through acquisition,” he said.

“Strong gearing gives the group the capacity to acquire where we need to do so.”

Last year’s annual report gives testimony to that and again if the right opportunities arise “we have the capacity to fund them and we’ll do them”, he said.

The health care economy is more significant to the group than the general economic state, he said.

Either way, he sees enough steam in the sector to ensure the group continues its strong growth in the current year.

On the bigger picture, he says concerns about the global political state and the slowdown of the world economy is of concern, but not overly so.

Mr Fizgerald said the Irish economy has shown more resilience that many analysts thought possible.

“As it stands we’re still growing ahead of others and our economy is expanding.

“There are no grounds for specific pessimism in relation to what’s happening here at home,” he said.