OREANDA-NEWS. On 07 March 2008 Pharmacy Chain 36.6 announced its preliminary sales and operational results for 2007 according to management reports.

Sales

Consolidated sales in 2007 totaled USD 871.9 million, which is 64.9% more than in the previous year.

Sales in the pharmacy retail chain totaled USD 673.6 million, representing a 74.4% growth as compared with 2006.

In 2007, Veropharm sales grew 39.1% year on year and reached USD 139.8 million.
Sales in the medical services sector totaled USD 25.9 million, which is a 20.5% year on year growth.

Store Count

By the end of 2007, Pharmacy Chain 36.6 included 1,224 pharmacies located in 29 Russian regions.

In 2007, Pharmacy Chain 36.6 acquired 26 pharmacy chains with a total of 293 pharmacies. The pro-forma revenues of the acquired pharmacy chains totaled USD 177.2 million. The coefficient of the consolidated sales of the acquired chains in the Company’s 2007 reporting is 0.55.

Throughout 2007 the Company organically opened 166 pharmacies, re-branded 45 pharmacies and closed 73 pharmacies.

As of the end of 2007, Pharmacy Chain 36.6 managed 12 separate eyewear stores and 28 eyewear kiosks located inside the Company’s pharmacies.

In 2007, four Early Learning Center (ELC) stores were opened in Moscow.

2007 Business Unit No. of Pharmacies Share of Sales Ave. Floor Space per Pharmacy, sq.m.

Operational Results

The acquisition of regional pharmacy chains reduced the average retail space of the Company’s pharmacies in 2007 by 4.8% to 60.8 square meters.

The sales per square meter of floor space in the pharmacies that have been operating for more than one year totaled USD 10.8 thousand, which represents a 21.5% year on year growth; the sales per square meter in Moscow grew 9.7% to USD 11.1 thousand; the sales per square meter in regional pharmacies grew by 39.3% to USD 10.3 thousand.

Throughout 2007 a total of 94.7 million purchases were made at the Company’s pharmacies. This represents a 48.8% year on year growth. The average receipt at the pharmacies that have been operating for over one year grew by 23.7% to USD 8.3; the average receipt at the Company’s Moscow pharmacies grew by 18.2% to USD 11.0, whereas the average receipt at the Company’s regional pharmacies grew to USD 6.4, up 35.3%.

The sales growth of pharmacies opened or acquired before January 1, 2006 amounted to 20.2%.

Pharmacy operational results by opening/acquisition date:  No. of Pharmacies Share of Sales

Investments and Debt

The total investments in the pharmacy business in 2007 amounted to USD 163 million.
The consolidated net debt of Pharmacy Chain 36.6 as of the end of 2007 was USD 271 million. In 2007 Veropharm’s debt amounted to USD 20.2 million.

The 2007 results of Pharmacy Chain 36.6 according to International Financial Reporting Standards are planned to be published at the end of H1 2008, upon completion of an independent audit of the Company.