OREANDA-NEWS. OAO Pharmacy Chain 36.6 announced preliminary results on sales volumes and business operations for the first nine months of 2007.

Sales
The consolidated sales for the first nine months of 2007 according to management accounts totaled US$592 million, which represents 70..6% y-o-y growth. Sales in the pharmacy segment amounted to US$458.8 million, an increase of 81.6% y-o-y.
In Q3 2007, retail sales amounted to US$158.1 million, up 67.2% over the same period in 2006. Veropharm sales grew 31.4% and reached US$92.9 million. During the first nine months of 2007 sales of the European Medical Center (EMC) totaled US$18..7 million, up 20.6% over the same period in 2006.

Number of stores 
At the end of the first nine months of 2007, Pharmacy Chain 36.6 had a total of 1090 pharmacies situated in 29 regions throughout Russia. Pharmacies in the regions accounted for 45.3% of sales in the pharmaceutical retail segment.
During the first nine months of 2007 Pharmacy Chain 36.6 acquired nine pharmacy chains, including ZEM Pharm, Nasha Apteka, ASN, Sigma, Firma IKA, Donluv, ALS, Kompanyon and Ekoros Pharm.  In total, the pharmacy chains acquired by Pharmacy Chain 36.6 include 120 pharmacies with total turnover in 2006 of approximately $24..8 million. With the acquisition of the Kompanyon, Nasha Apteka and ASN pharmacy chains Pharmacy Chain 36.6 launched its operations in three new regions of Russia, including the Stavropol region, Vladimirskaya and Ivanovskaya Territories. During Q3 2007, a total of 32 pharmacies were opened, 20 pharmacies were rebranded and 16 pharmacies were closed. In Q3 2007, the sixth Early Learning Center (ELC) store was opened in Moscow.

Operational results for retail business
During the first nine months of 2007, 68.7 million purchases were made, which is 59% more than in the same period of 2006. The average receipt for pharmacies operating more than a year rose by 30.3% to US$8.4, while the average receipt for the Moscow business unit was up 28.7% to US$11.6 and the average receipt in regional pharmacies rose 35.9% to US$6.2.
Average sales floor size at the end of the first 9 months of 2007 was 60.1 square meters, down 11.6% y-o-y. In the first nine months of 2007, revenues per square meter of sales floor in pharmacies that had been operating for more than a year totaled US$8100, up 29.8% y-o-y. Revenues per square meter in Moscow pharmacies were up 20.7% to US$8800, while revenues per square meter in the regional pharmacies were up 40.6% to US$7700.
Sales growth (like-for-like, in US dollars) in the chain's pharmacies that had been opened or acquired prior to January 1, 2006 amounted to 28.9%. Sales growth at the mature pharmacies was primarily due to a higher average ticket size at the regional pharmacies.

Debt
As of the end of the first 9 months of 2007, the net debt of Pharmacy Chain 36.6 stood at US$274.3 million. As of the end of the first 9 months of 2007, Veropharm's debt stood at US$23.9 million.