Fildas group, owned by Anca Vlad, has revised its business plan in the wake of the Health Ministry's decision to maintain drug prices at last summer's level after the RON fell by over 15% against the main currencies.
"We cut discounts, we also reduced payment periods and we're trying to secure our business through tightly managed credit limits. These are unpopular decisions in the context of mature competition, such as the one registered on the pharmaceutical market," said Radu George, general manager of Fildas, told ZF in an interview.
The group comprises drug distributor Fildas Trading, Catena drugstore network and Naturalis cosmetics shops. Last year's turnover stood 200m euros and the 2008 target was set at 270m euros, with Catena sales put at 80m euros, sales to hospitals - 30m euros, and the rest to be derived from classical distribution.
"The business plan we devised last year included increases along all lines. The decrease in RON at the end of 2007 hurt us a lot. Last year, losses caused by depreciation hit 6m euros," said Radu George.
All players have been hurt by the falling value of RON, after losses amounted to tens of millions of euros across the industry.
"We hoped something would happen, but negotiations with the Health Ministry came to no avail. All projects have been seriously harmed by this situation, so that we had to regroup to move on," Vlad also said.
Early this year, Fildas reshuffled its management structure.
One of Fildas' recent projects entailed the acquisition of a warehouse in Bucharest for 5m euros, which took the network operated by the company to 14 warehouses with a capacity of 49,380 cubic metres.
In the first five months of this year, Fildas generated sales worth 89m euros, up 30% against the same period last year, which meant the company secured the second position in terms of distribution to drugstores, according to Cegedim data.
In January, Fildas registered a slight decline in sales, while the trend was experienced across the entire industry, however the decline was not felt at the level of final consumers given the sufficient supplies on the market.
At the level of the drugstore network, Catena operates 201 locations, after the company embraced more cautious expansion. "(...) We considerably cut down on acquisitions. We did not focus on opening drugstores in malls, but preferred to buy solid businesses," said Radu George. Catena mainly pursues expansion in districts, "generally in places that are accessible to medium-income patients".
"According to the plan we devised in 2007, we had to reach a network of 280 drugstores at the end of this year, but I don't believe this will happen. I cannot tell at this moment how many drugstores there will be, because it depends on several factors," said George.
The weight of OTC drugs and non-pharmaceutical products in Catena sales now stands at 18%. As for the Naturalis network, it now includes 6 stores. The group employs around 1,850 people.
Fildas
Revised its business plan after the Health Ministry decided to keep drug prices at last summer's level, while RON fell by over 15% against the main currencies
Last year, the group reached 200m-euro turnover and for 2008 targets 270m euros
In the first 5 months of this year, generated sales worth 89m euros, up 30% against the same period last year
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
